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BEACON LIGHTS: 



A SERIES OF SHORT SERMONS. 



BV 

JOSEPH A. SEISS, D.D., LL.D., L.H.D., 



AUTHOR OF 



Lectures on the Gospels and Epistles for the Sundays and Festivals of the 

Church Year— On the Apocalypse— On the Book of Daniel— The 

Letters of Jesus— The Gospel in Leviticus— A Miracle in 

Stone— The Gospel in the Stars, etc., etc. 






PHILADELPHIA: 
BOARD OF PUBLICATION 

OF THE 

tonal Council of % (fcbangdual JTuijjeran Cfjnrtlj 

IN NORTH AMERICA. 

No. 1522 Arch Street. 
1900. 

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45258 



Copyright, 1899, 
By JOSEPH A. SEISS. 



All rights reserved. 



TWO COPIES RECEIVED, 







PREFACE. 



IT is a vital truth, never to be overlooked nor 
allowed to sink out of practical regard, that the 
supernatural elements in our holy Christianity, 
and not its mere ethical teachings, constitute its 
characteristic life and only saving power. The 
true dignity, inspiration, and effectiveness of the 
pulpit, as well as the living perpetuity of the 
Church, depend upon the clearness, emphasis, and 
supreme prominence given to these elements. If 
these be explained away, relegated to the back- 
ground, or superseded by something else, all com- 
manding appeals to the human heart and consci- 
ence are disabled, the design of Revelation is con- 
travened, and the sublime purpose of the Chris- 
tian ministry is subverted. Hence, to voice the 
Gospel in its sacred fullness, in the plainest, 
strongest, and most direct way, with its most 
pungent addresses to the minds and religious sen- 
sibilities of men and women, apart from all 
rationalistic glosses or compromises with popular 
tendencies and tastes, is the first and paramount 



4 PREFACE. 

duty of the faithful preacher, tempered of course 
with the earnest and loving Spirit of the Master 
himself. 

How far this has been successfully carried out 
in the Sermons here following the readers of them 
may determine. They differ somewhat from the 
Author's previous publications in the same line, 
— not in doctrine and aim, but in condensation 
and brevity, and in the choice and treatment of 
free and shorter texts. In these busy times, when 
the disposition is to avoid elaborate discussions, 
this feature may the more commend them to pop- 
ular favor. It will the better fit them for use in 
families and for lay-reading in churches in the 
absence of a regular minister. They have been 
selected from a mass of the author's preparations 
for the pulpit. They have all been preached, 
and are here printed as preached. And they are 
thus given to the public with the hope and prayer 
that God may own and bless them to the edifica- 
tion of His Church, the maintenance of the true 
faith, and the furtherance of genuine piety. To 
the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost, one 
God, be the glory for all, both now and forever. 

Amen. 



CONTENTS. 



SALVATION COMETH. Pp. 13-22. 
{First Sunday in Advent.) 
" For now is our salvation nearer than when we believed. The 
night is far spent, the day is at hand." — Rom. 13 : 11, 12. 

THE PROMISED DELIVERANCE. Pp. 23-30. 
(Second Sunday in Advent.) 
"Watch ye therefore, 'and pray always, that ye may be accounted 
worthy to escape all these things that shall come to pass, and to stand 
before the Son of Man." — Luke 21 ; 36. 

A GREAT MAN'S PERPLEXITY. Pp. 31-41. 
( Third Sunday in Advent.) 
" Now when John heard in the prison the works of Christ, he sent 
two of his disciples, and said unto Him, Art Thou He that should come, 
or do we look for another." — Matt, ii : 2, 3. 

THE JOY OF FAITH. Pp. 41-49. 
(Fourth Sunday in Advent.) 
" Rejoice in the Lord alway : and again I say, Rejoice." — PHIL. 
4: 4. 

THE GLAD NATIVITY. Pp. 50-57. 
(Christmas.) 
" For the grace of God that bringeth salvation hath appeared." — 
Titus 2 : 11. 

THE GRACIOUS ERRAND. Pp. 58-63. 

(Sunday after Christmas.) 

" For the Son of man is come to seek and to save that which was 
lost." — Luke 19 : 10. 

5 



O CONTENTS. 

A NOBLE TESTIMONY. Pp. 64-73. 
{Epiphany?) 
" Behold, there came wise men from the East to Jerusalem, saying, 
"Where is He that is born King of the Jews ? for we have seen His star 
in the East, and are come to worship Him." — Matt. 2:1,2. 

THE OFFENDED NAZARENES. Pp. 74-82. 
(First Sunday after Epiphany.} 
" Is not this the carpenter, the son of Mary, the brother of James, 
and Joses, and of Juda, and Simon ? And are not His sisters here 
with us? And they were offended at Him." — Mark 6 : 3. 

THE LIGHT OF THE WORLD. Pp. 83-89. 
(Second Sunday after Epiphany .) 
" Then spake Jesus again unto them, saying, I am the Light of the 
world : he that followeth Me shall not walk in darkness, but shall have 
the light of life."— Jno. 8 : 12. 

A MARVELLOUS BELIEVER. Pp. 90-99. 

( Third Sunday after Epiphany.) 

" When Jesus heard it, He marvelled, and said unto them that fol- 
lowed, Verily I say unto you, I have not found so great faith, no, not 
in Israel." — Matt. 8 : 10. 

THE FRIGHTENED VOYAGERS. Pp. 100-108. 

(Fourth Sunday after Epiphany?) 

" And He said unto them, Why are ye fearful, O ye of little faith ?" 
— Matt. 8 : 26. 

THE GOSPEL YOKE. Pp. 109-116. 

(Fifth Sunday after Epiphany.) 

" Take my yoke upon you, and learn of Me ; for I am meek and 
lowly in heart : and ye shall find rest unto your souls. For My yoke 
is easy, and My burden is light." — Matt, ii : 29, 30. 

THE CHRISTIAN STADIUM. Pp. 117-125. 
( Septuagesima . ) 
" Know ye not that they which run in a race run all, but one receiv- 
eth the prize? . . . Now they do it to obtain a corruptible crown, but 
We an incorruptible." — 1 Cor. 9 : 24, 25. 



CONTENTS. 7 

RESPECTFUL HEARING. Pp. 126-135. 
{Sexigesima.) 
" And they come unto thee as the people cometh, and they sit be- 
fore thee as my people, and they hear thy words, but they will not 
do them." — Ezek. 33 : 31. 

THE PASSING SAVIOUR. Pp. 136-144. 
( Quinquagesima.) 
"And they told him, that Jesus of Nazareth passeth by." — LUKE J 
18 : 37. 

THE LENTEN CALL. Pp. 145-153. 
{Ash Wednesday.) 
" Come unto Me, all ye that labor and are heavy laden, and I will 
give you rest." — Matt, ii : 28. 

SATANIC SIFTINGS. Pp. 154-161. 
{First Sunday in Lent.) 
" And the Lord said, Simon, Simon, behold, Satan hath desired to 
have you, that he may sift you as wheat : but I have prayed for thee, 
that thy faith fail not." — Luke 22 : 31. 

THE SUPREME INQUIRY. Pp. 162-171. 
{Second Sunday in Lent.) 
" Dost thou believe on the Son of God." — Jno. 9 : 35. 

HEAVENLY SYMPATHY. Pp. 172-180. 
( Third Sunday in Lent.) 
♦ " I say unto you, There is joy in the presence of the angels of God 
over one sinner that repenteth." — LUKE 15 : 10. 

THE MUNIFICENT SAVIOUR. Pp. 181-190. 
{Fourth Sunday in Lent.) 
" When Jesus then lifted up His eyes, and saw a great company 
come unto Him, He saith unto Philip, Whence shall we buy bread, 
that these may eat." — Jno. 6 : 5. 

THE ALL-AVAILING OFFERING. Pp. 191-200. 
{Fifth Sunday in Lent.) 
" For if the blood of bulls and of goats, and the ashes of an heifer 
sprinkling the unclean, sanctifieth to the purifying of the flesh: how 
much more shall the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit 
offered himself without spot to God, purge your conscience from dead 
works to serve the living God." — Heb. 9 : 13, 14. 



CONTENTS. 

THE MOUNTED KING. Pp. 201-208. 
{Palm Sunday.) 
" Tell ye the daughter of Sion, Behold, thy King cometh unto thee, 
meek, and sitting upon an ass." — Matt. 21 : 5. 

VOICES FROM THE CROSS. Pp. 209-215. 
( Good Friday.) 
" When they were come to the place called Calvary, there they 
crucifted Him." — LUKE 23 : 33. 

THE DAY OF GLADNESS. Pp. 216-223. 
{Easter Sunday.) 
" This is the day which the Lord hath made; we will rejoice and be 
glad in it." — Ps. 118 : 24. 

RELIGIOUS CERTITUDE. Pp. 224-231. 
{First Sunday after Easter.) 
" Let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, hav- 
ing our hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience." — Heb. 10 : 22. 

HEAVENLY GUARDIANSHIP. Pp. 232-239. 
{Second Sunday after Easter.) 
" The Lord is my Shepherd." — Ps. 23 : 1. 

KNOWING THE LORD. Pp. 240-247. 
( Third Sunday after Easter.) 
" And none of the disciples durst ask Him, Who art thou? Know- 
ing that it was the Lord." — JOHN 21 : 12. 

THE REFRESHING WORD. Pp. 248-256. 

{Fourth Sunday after Easter?) 

" Hear, O earth, the words of my mouth. My doctrine shall drop 

as the rain, my speech shall distil as the dew, as the small rain upon 

the tender herb, and as the showers upon the grass." — Deut. 32 : 1, 2. 

DIVINE JEWELS. Pp. 257-265. 
{Fifth Sunday after Easter.) 
" And they shall be mine, saith the Lord of hosts, in that day when 

1 make up my jewels." — Mal. 3 : 17. 

THE SUBLIME DEPARTURE. Pp. 266-271. 
{Ascension Day.) 
" And a cloud received Him out of their sight." — ACTS 1 : 9. 



CONTENTS. 9 

HEAVENLY ENTHRONEMENT. Pp. 272-279. 
{Sunday after Ascension Day.) 
" The Lord said unto my Lord, Sit thou on my right hand, until 
I make thine enemies thy footstool." — Ps. no : 1. 

STRENGTH AND COMFORT. Pp. 280-286. 
{Whit Sunday.) 

" They that wait on the Lord shall renew their strength: they shall 
mount up with wings as eagles ; they shall run, and not be weary ; and 
they shall walk, and not faint." — ISA. 40 : 31. 

THE ADORABLE GODHEAD. Pp. 287-296. 
( Trinity Sunday.) 
" For of Him, and through Him, and to Him, are all things: to 
whom be glory for ever. Amen." — ROM. n : 36. 

THE FAITHFUL SERVANT. Pp. 297-305. 
{First Sunday after Trinity.) 
" His Lord said unto him, Well done, good and faithful servant; 
thou hast been faithful over a few things, I will make thee ruler over 
many things ; enter thou into the joy of thy Lord." — Matt. 25 : 23. 

DIFFERENCE IN WORSHIPPERS. Pp. 306-316. 
{Second Sunday after Trinity.) 
"Two men went up into the temple to pray; the one a Pharisee, 
and the other a publican." — Luke 18 : 10. 

THE SINNER'S FRIEND. Pp. 317-323. 
( Third Sunday after Trinity.) 
" And the Pharisees and scribes murmured, saying, This man re- 
ceived! sinners, and eateth with them." — Luke 15 : 2. 

SEEKING AND FINDING. Pp. 324-329. 

{Fourth Sunday after Trinity.) 

" They found Him on the other side of the sea." — JNO. 6 : 25. 

THE TEMPLE GATES. Pp. 330-339. 
{Fifth Sunday after Trinity.) 
" He that entereth in by the way of the North gate to worship shall 
go out by the way of the South gate ; and he that entereth in by the 
way of the South gate shall go out by the way of the North gate : he 
shall not return by the way of the gate whereby he came in, but shall 
go forth over against it. And the Prince in the midst of them, when 
they go in, shall go in; and when they go forth, shall go forth." — 
Ezek. 46 : 9, 10. 



10 CONTENTS. 

THE BLESSED RIVER. Pp. 340-349- 
{Sixth Sunday after Trinity.) 
" There is a river, the streams whereof shall make glad the city of 
God." — Ps. 46 : 4. 

THE PERISHING SPENDTHRIFT. Pp. 350-360. 
{Seventh Sunday after Trinity.) 
" And when he came to himself, he said, How many hired servants 
of my father's house have bread enough and to spare, and I perish with 
hunger." — LUKE 15 : 17. 

THE WAY TO THE FATHER. Pp. 361-369. 
{Eighth Sunday after Trinity!) 
" Jesus saith unto him, I am the Way, the Truth, and the Life : no 
man cometh unto the Father, but by Me." — Jno. 14-6. 

BLESSED PRIVILEGE. Pp. 370-376. 
{Ninth Sunday after Tri?iity.) 
" And He turned Him unto His disciples, and said privately, 
Blessed are the eyes which see the things which ye see ; for I tell you, 
that many prophets and kings have desired to see the things which ye 
see, and have not seen them ; and to hear those things which ye hear, 
and have not heard them." — Luke 10 : 23, 24. 

DANGEROUS EXPOSURE. Pp. 377-387. 
{Tenth Sunday after Trinity.) 
" Beware lest any man spoil you through philosophy and vain 
deceit, after the tradition of men, after the rudiments of the world, and 
not after Christ." — Col. 2 : 8. 

A SERIOUS PROBLEM. Pp. 388-396. 
{Eleventh Su?iday after Trinity.) 
" Wherefore do the wicked live ?" — Job 21 : 7. 

GRACIOUS THOUGHTS. Pp. 397-405= 
( Twelfth Sunday after Trinity.) 
" I know the thoughts that I think toward you, saith the Lord, 
thoughts of peace, and not of evil." — Jer. 29 : 11. 

PERSISTENT FAITH. Pp. 406-411. 
( Thirteenth Sunday after Trinity.) 
"Though He slay me, yet will I trust in Him." — JOB 13 : 15. 



CONTENTS. 1 1 

A GREAT CURE. Pp. 412-421. 

{Fourteenth Sunday after Trinity!) 

"And his flesh came again like unto the flesh of a little child, and 
he was clean." — 2 Kings 5 : 14. 

FUTILITY OF A DIVIDED SERVICE. Pp. 422-429. 

{Fifteenth Sunday after Trinity.) 

" No man can serve two masters ; for either he will hate the one, 
and love the other; or else he will hold to the one, and despise the 
other. Ye cannot serve God and Mammon." — Matt. 6 : 24. 

A STANDING PROCLAMATION. Pp. 430-437. 
{Sixteenth Sunday after Trinity.) 
" Him that cometh unto Me I will in no wise cast out." — JNO. 6 : 37. 

BENEDICTIONS UPON THE WRESTLER. Pp. 438-444. 

{Seventeenth Sunday after Trinity.) 

" I will be as the dew unto Israel : he shall grow as the lily, and 
cast forth his roots as Lebanon. His branches shall spread, and his 
beauty shall be as the olive tree, and his smell as Lebanon." — HoSEA 
14 : 5, 6. 

THE MESSAGE OF CONSOLATION. Pp. 445-453. 

{Eighteenth Sunday after Trinity.) 

" Comfort ye, comfort ye my people, saith your God. Speak ye 
comfortably to Jerusalem, and cry unto her, that her warfare is accom- 
plished, that her iniquity is pardoned." — ISA. 40 : 1, 2. 

A DISASTROUS CHOICE. Pp. 454-464. 

{Nineteenth Sunday after Trinity.) 

"And Lot . . . pitched his tent toward Sodom." — GEN. 13 : 12. 

THE SAMARITAN WOMAN. Pp. 465-476. 

( Twentieth Sunday after Trinity.) 

" How is it that Thou, being a Jew, askest drink of me, which am a 
woman of Samaria? for the Jews have no dealings with the Samaritans. 
Jesus answered and said unto her, If thou knewest the gift of God, and 
who it is that saith to thee, Give me to drink ; thou wouldest have asked 
of Him, and He would have given thee living water." — JNO. 4 : 9, 10. 



1 2 CONTENTS. 

THE TEARS OF JESUS. Pp. 477-485. 

( Twenty-first Sunday after Trinity.) 

" And when He was come near, He beheld the city, and wept over 
it." — Luke 19 : 41. 

THE PRECIOUSNESS OF LIFE. Pp. 486-495. 
( Twenty-second Stmday after Trinity.) 
" For a living dog is better than a dead lion." — ECCLES. 9 : 4. 

THE FRUITLESS TREE. Pp. 496-502. 

{Twenty-third Sunday after Trinity.) 

" Behold, these three years I come seeking fruit on this figtree, and 
find none : cut it down : why cumbereth it the ground ?" — LUKE 13 : 7. 

THE LOST CHANCE. Pp. 503-517. 
( Twenty-fourth Sunday after Trinity?) 

" The harvest is past, the summer ended, and we are not saved." — 
JER. 8 : 20. 

ZEAL FOR GOD. Pp. 518-529. 
( Twenty-fifth Sunday after Trinity.) 

"And he said, Come with me, and see my zeal for the Lord." — 
2 Kings 10 : 16. 

THE GLORIOUS BEYOND. Pp. 530-539. 

( Twenty-sixth Sunday after Trinity.) 

" And he said unto them, Verily I say unto you, that there be some 
of them that stand here, which shall not taste of death, till they have 
seen the kingdom of God come with power." — MARK 9 : 1. 



galbatfon atometf). 

First Sunday in Advent. 




For now is our salvation nearer than when we believed. The night 
is far spent, the day is at hand. — Rom. 13 : II. 

ALVATION! Our salvation! Our sal- 
vation, nearing and at hand ! This is 
the salutation with which the opening 
of the new Church-year greets us to-day. 
The word is to believers, to those who have heard 
of Christ, accepted Christ, and are hoping for eter- 
nal life through Him. 

The little word " for," at the beginning of the 
text, intimates that the statements it contains are 
meant to serve as a reason, motive, and argument 
for certain activities and duties with which they 
stand connected. The persons addressed are con- 
templated as more or less asleep and oblivious to 
the great matters of which the apostle is treating, 
and these great and startling facts are stated to 
arouse them from their slumbers, and to get them 
fully awake to their situation, so as to bestir them- 
selves accordingly. 

There is no difficulty in understanding this 
drowsy and sleepy condition as it applies to those 
who make no pretensions to religion. It is night 

13 



14 SALVATION COMETH. 

with them; and they are spiritually in the state 
which night brings. They are like men asleep. 
They have no right sensibility. They neither see, 
nor feel, nor care for the things of God, nor the 
condition and needs of their souls. They may be 
dreaming of security and happiness, but the real 
situation they do not take in. Being asleep, they 
are inactive, and as good as dead, touching the 
great things of salvation. What they need above 
all is to be aroused to spiritual consciousness^ and 
stirred up to active life and duty, or they will 
sleep the sleep of death, to awake when it is too 
late to be of avail. And although sometimes 
temporarily disturbed by the alarms which God's 
word rings into their ears, or by the divine judg- 
ments which strike by their sides and in their 
homes, they put off the needed action by the plea 
of u time enough yet," and are presently as deep 
in the old slumbers as before. 

But the implication here is, that even Christian 
believers are liable to be dull and drowsy with 
reference to the things that make for salvation. 
Even in those apostolic times, when Jewish and 
heathen persecutions tended to make Christians 
such in very truth or not at all, many were so 
dull and sluggish in their piety as to need stirring 
up. Though things were so warm and sharp 
about them, and the conflict so intense, that we 
can hardly see how it was possible for them to 
sleep, yet they did often sleep, perhaps not in 
such dead sleep as the indifferent and unbeliev- 
ing, but still in a condition so dull and sluggish as 



FIRST SUNDAY IN ADVENT. 1 5 

to need the apostle's sharp admonition to stir 
them up to greater earnestness and devotion. 

People are not apt to become thorough saints at 
a single bound. Much of the old deadness and 
depravity still cliugs even to the most enlightened. 
The good work begun in them needs culture and 
nursing, and oft revival of energy and exertion, 
to be kept up to the mark. While the bridegroom 
tarried all the virgins became drowsy and slept; 
and so it frequently is with Christians. Once 
awake and active, the}' subsequently begin to 
consult their own ease, yield more or less to the 
fashion and current of things about them, leave 
off one and another of their Christian duties, 
become dilatory and self-excusing, and wonder 
to themselves sometimes whether it is worth their 
while to give so much attention, work, and 
anxiety to religious matters. Carnal likes and 
laziness plead for indulgence, and they get it. 
The spiritual life sinks, languishes, and largely 
disappears. Sleepiness takes the place of proper 
feeling and the necessary zeal and faithfulness. 
The things of God, heaven, and duty cease to 
touch, impress, and animate them as once. They 
do not trouble to call themselves to account for 
their way of living and doing. They take for 
granted that all is right. They have joined the 
Church; they confess the orthodox faith; their 
consciences are not burdened with any worse life 
than the average of Christian people; and so they 
rest. They have done good service in the past, 
and think now let others take the place and do as 



1 6 SALVATION COMETH. 

well, while they retire. Yes, there be many pro- 
fessed Christians who are not only drowsy, but 
almost as fast asleep as those who have never 
been spiritually awakened at all. And it would 
be well if we were free from the reproach. Xow 
such a condition is no credit to any one, and is so 
dangerous and so much of a hindrance and scan- 
dal to the Christian profession that the apostle is 
very anxious to have it broken up. And the 
Church, in setting his words before us to-day, 
would have us make a new start with the new 
Church-year. She would have us know and feel 
that the time for greater wakefulness is here; that 
sleep and drowsiness are now quite out of place; 
that our proper business is to throw off slumber, 
listlessness, and what pertains to the night, and 
equip ourselves for the work and battle of the 
children of light. 

And that the admonition may not be without 
effect, let us consider what we have at stake. 
Think of the soul; that living inspiration of God, 
by which we were made to resemble Him, and to 
live in blessed fellowship with Him forever. 
Think of the preciousness of being that has thus 
come to us, and the sublimity of its capacity for 
expansion, growth, usefulness, and enjoyment. 
What indeed can a man give in exchange for his 
soul? The material world and all things in it 
cannot represent the value of the soul. Created 
for eternity and for eternal alliance with the 
Father of spirits, no limit can be set to its worth. 

And what if the soul should be lost! Who can 



FIRST SUNDAY IN ADVENT. 1 7 

compute so great a calamity! People sometimes 
lose valued and dear friends, and are crushed 
almost to death under the loss. But the loss of 
friends is not the loss of everything. Jesus still 
lives. Heaven may still be ours. The separation 
need not be forever. And some kind ones remain 
to help with their sympathy. But when the soul 
is lost all is lost. No one is left to condole with 
us — no refuge to which to look — no hope — no 
means of overcoming or moderating the grief — no 
end to the misery. When the soul is lost all 
capacity for improvement and happiness is gone. 
Other losses may be without our fault; but the 
loss of the soul imprints upon it the immortal 
consciousness of its own wicked folly and fills it 
with incurable remorse. O the depths of the 
wretchedness and privations of a lost soul! 

Think also of the perils of incurring this loss. 
Not one of us is beyond the reach of danger. In 
the natural course of things the chances are largely 
against us. We were all born with a tainted 
nature, biased toward evil as sparks fly upward, 
and with every constitutional tendency that makes 
for our utter ruin, if not arrested by some super- 
natural power. The enemy of our peace thus 
already has property in every one of us. And 
while inwardly impelled to wrong, and disinclined 
to lay hold of the proffered help, the whole world 
around us is full of temptations and treacherous 
persuasions adverse to our salvation. We cannot 
take a decisive step in the line of the soul's eter- 
nal safety, but we must fight our way through 
2 



IS SALVATION COMETH. 

many contentions within and without. It is easy 
enough to profess Christianity, for that is a sort 
of fashion that society in general approves; but it 
is a very much harder thing to be a Christian in 
reality, and to hold out in it with growing fidelity 
to the end. And in view of these facts it is great 
folly for you or me to think we are in no danger 
of losing our souls. There is danger; and we do 
intense injustice to our eternal well-being by fail- 
ure to consider and believe it. 

Consider also the costly provisions that have 
been made for our rescue and deliverance. Unfa- 
vorable and imperilled as our condition is, there is 
no need for any of us to be finally lost. There is 
such a thing as Salvation — salvation for each of 
us— salvation even for the worst and wickedest. 
And far greater than the loss of the soul, on the 
one hand, is the salvation of it on the other. 
What a stir was in the mind and heart of God and 
in the counsels of eternity when it was decreed to 
provide redemption for our fallen race! What a 
humiliation and sacrifice of the eternal Son of the 
Father, and what a hell of anguish had He to 
endure, in order to open for us the doors of deliv- 
erance! What added activities of angels, and 
toils of men, and providential expenditures, ex- 
tending through the ages, were required to bring 
to us the offers of forgiveness, sanctification, and 
eternal' life, through faith in Jesus! And who 
can contemplate these momentous facts and not 
feel the gross ingratitude, shame, and guilt of 
sleepy and slothful indifference to what has been 



FIRST SUNDAY IN ADVENT. 1 9 

done and endured to render our salvation pos- 
sible! 

Consider also what that salvation means to a 
condemned and perishing soul. If it were a 
license for the mere temporary indulgence of the 
likes and pleasures of sense — an offer of earthly 
gain, power, or honor — the proposal of exemption 
from bodily infirmity, sickness, or disability — we 
may be sure that hearers would instantly start up 
with ample interest and energy to possess it. Is 
it nothing for a criminal, sentenced to be hung, 
to have sealed pardon and release brought to him 
from the King? Yet here is authentic pardon 
and release from an infinitely worse condemna- 
tion. Here is cure for an infinitely worse disease 
than ever assailed a human body. Here is pro- 
vision for a life that never dies — a life akin to the 
life of angels and the life of God — a life of unend- 
ing expansion in light and glory— a life in all the 
highest blessedness and sublimities of immortal 
being. And is there nothing in all this to awaken 
interest and zeal in souls so ailing, and needy, and 
helpless, and doomed amid their trespasses and 
sins ? O the transcendent good fortune to him to 
whom Christ is made his wisdom, righteousness, 
sanctification, and redemption! Even in this life 
there is a peace in believing, a safety of soul, and 
a joy in God, which no troubles can drown, and 
no adversities destroy, to say nothing of the life 
that is to come. And shall we not care to possess 
them? 

And the greatness of salvation, when once 



20 SALVATION COMETH. 

fully complete, who shall tell it? Think of a 
world regenerated, redeemed, and freed from all 
presence and effects of sin and sinners. Think of 
a society in which all are saints and equal unto 
the angels. Think of unending and ever-growing 
life in the smile of God, under the effulgence of 
the Sun of Righteousness and in visible associa- 
tion with the King in His beauty. This, and 
nothing less, shall mark the consummation of 
salvation in the time to come. 

And this glorious consummation is now near at 
hand, and daily impending. Death may overtake 
us any day or hour, and death brings one far on 
the way to the final settlement of complete salva- 
tion or utter failure. But Advent-time points 
onward to the nearing coming of the Lord him- 
self, to be glorified in His saints, to complete the 
redemption of His people, and to be admired in 
all them that believe. It will be too late then for 
dull sleepers to awake in time to be admitted to 
the marriage of the Lamb. And because we know 
neither the day nor the hour when the Son of 
Man cometh, and are admonished by a thousand 
signs that His coming cannot now be long de- 
layed, the urgent message is, to put away from 
us all carnal slumbers, to break away from all 
works of darkness, and to steady ourselves in 
faith and duty for what is before us. The 
doors stand open to us now; but who knows 
how soon they may be shut against all unready 
sleepers! 

And what must be the consequence if we neglect 



FIRST SUNDAY IN ADVENT. 21 

so great salvation ? Its offers are made to us now 
— offers the costliest the universe has ever known; 
and how shall we escape if we disregard and 
neglect them ? Its means are now within our 
reach. The grace of God which bringeth salva- 
tion is here, present and potent in the word and 
sacraments, and abundantly efficacious for all who 
dilig'ently avail themselves of them. And how 
shall we escape if we turn our backs upon them 
and prefer to indulge our sloth and indolence? 
Much time has already gone to waste. Much 
neglectfulness and criminal indifference can be 
charged against us all. Our best piety has been 
very infirm, and our prayers often more a travesty 
than proper devotion even when not omitted and 
forgotten. While many have not made any one 
decisive move in the momentous matter, yet the 
way is still open, and again the gracious warning 
comes to admonish us that our time is growing 
short. And how shall we escape if we continue 
to slumber on in such a dead or dying state ? 

Dear friends, if you were told for a certainty 
that this is the last sermon you will ever hear, 
that this is the last Advent season you will ever 
see this side of the great day, are you satisfied 
that you are safe and ready in the state and man- 
ner of life in which you now are ? If not, is it 
not then high time to awake out of sleep, to stir 
up energy for a more earnest and vigorous devo- 
tion, faith, and Christian life; to abate and crucify 
earthly vanities and ambitions, and to think, and 
live, and do for God, the soul, and eternity, that 



22 SALVATION COMETH. 

that day may not come upon you unawares? Sal- 
vation is provided. It is salvation for us. And 
it is salvation that must soon be accomplished. 
By no means then let us sleep as do others, and 
neglect it. 




Second Sunday in Advent. 

Watch ye therefore, and pray always, that ye may be accounted 
worthy to escape all these things that shall come to pass, and to stand 
before the Son of Man. — Luke 21 : 36. 

"HE context of these words treats of a 
momentous crisis in this world's his- 
tory. Reason itself, apart from revela- 
tion, might anticipate something of it. 
Everything that lives, or moves, of which we 
have any knowledge, is plainly tending to a time 
when it comes to its fullness, and a marvellous 
change occurs. Conscience also suggests some 
great moral juncture as the harvest of what man- 
kind has been sowing, — some decisive outcome 
and consummation that will explain the many 
riddles which perplex our philosophies. Even 
the heathen were persuaded that there must 
come a time of judgment and retribution for the 
world, as for the individuals who inhabit it. But, 
when we go to the sacred Scriptures, given by 
inspiration of God, we are left in no doubt that 
' l He hath appointed a day, in the which He will 
judge the world in righteousness." And the 
main features of that great crisis, as also the chief 

23 



24 THE PROMISED DELIVERANCE. 

duties by means of which to secure our safety 
when it comes, are duly set forth. 

First of all, it is described as a time of alarming 
portents, commotions, and distresses. The Saviour 
tells of strange and terrifying disturbances in 
earth, and sea, and sky, and such startling mani- 
festations everywhere, that men's hearts will fail 
them for fear, and many will faint and perish for 
very terror at what is coming on the earth. Nay, 
the word is, that the very stabilities and powers 
of the heavens shall be shaken. 

We may not be able to explain accurately what 
all is meant by these terms ; but they certainly in- 
clude great and terrible convulsions. The Scrip- 
tures, in many places, speak of those times as 
dreadful in the extreme. They are called "the 
great and terrible day of the Lord," when moun- 
tains and islands are shaken out of their places, 
and many flee for safety to the dens and caves of 
the earth, calling upon the rocks to fall on them, 
to hide them from the scenes then to be mani- 
fested. 

But, with all, it is the time of redemption for 
God's people. The Saviour says, "When these 
things begin to come to pass, then look up, and 
lift up your heads; for your redemption draweth 
nigh." 

There is a redemption of price; and there is a 
redemption of power: the one past, and the other 
yet to come. The price was paid when Christ 
surrendered His life for us on the cross, so that 
there is now no more condemnation to those who 



SECOND SUNDAY IN ADVENT. 2$ 

believe on Him. But we are still helpless, and 
subject to disease, pain, and death. There must 
be the putting forth of power to lift us out of our 
many weaknesses and miseries, to recover us from 
corruption and death, in order to complete our 
salvation. And the time for that is this very 
judgment time. With all its alarming accom- 
paniments to the common world, it will be a time 
of superlative blessedness and glory to the saints. 

Furthermore, it is the time of the promised 
return of our Saviour. The statement is, "Then 
shall they see the Son of Man coming in a cloud 
with power and great glory." From the day that 
Jesus ascended to heaven from Mount Olivet, the 
chief consolation of the Church was "that blessed 
hope, even the glorious appearing of the great 
God and our Saviour Jesus Christ." And yet, 
how many persist in neglecting it, and in explain- 
ing it away! The world of our time is specially 
skeptical on this point, and there be plenty of 
scoffers to say, "Where is the promise of His 
coming?" But the Lord is not slack concerning 
His promises as some men count slackness. He 
that shall come, will come, and will not tarry. 
No unbelief of men will stay His chariot wheels. 
And when He does come, woe to them that de- 
spise or make light of His word! 

But the text speaks particularly of a way of 
escape from all these things, before the worst 
comes. 

It must be borne in mind that what is called 
the Second Advent, like the first, will not be all 



26 THE PROMISED DELIVERANCE. 

at once, on a single day or hour, or in one scene 
or act. It will embrace different stages and mani- 
festations, extending through years. There is, 
first, a coming "as a thief in the night," unper- 
ceived by the common world, and known only by 
the absence of what has been taken. The Scrip- 
tures tell of a paronsia, — a presence; and of an 
epiphania of that paronsia, — a showing of that 
presence ; with an interval between covering many 
acts of judgment upon the living world. In the 
one case, Christ comes for His people, and then 
afterwards comes with them. And His coming 
for His people is at the beginning of the great 
judgment time; and only later on will He so 
come as that "every eye shall see Him." 

The very first thing, then, w T ill be the sudden 
and miraculous taking away of His ready and 
waiting people to meet Him in the heavenly 
regions. Paul gives it as a special word of the 
Lord, that when He shall come, "the dead in 
Christ shall rise first: then we which are alive 
and remain shall be caught up together with 
them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air." 
So again he says, "Behold I show you a mystery; 
we shall not all sleep, — not all die, — but we shall 
all be changed, in a moment, in the twinkling of 
an eye." And this sudden ereption from the 
earth to the heavenly spaces, is what is described 
in the text as being "accounted worthy to stand 
before the Son of Man," quite saved from the 
terrible things then to befall the unbelieving 
world. 



SECOND SUNDAY IN ADVENT. 2J 

It was thus promise was given to certain of the 
Church of Philadelphia, saying, "Because thou 
hast kept the word of my patience, I also will 
keep thee from the hour of trial, which is to 
come upon the whole world. ' ' And it is most of 
all to this exemption by means of translation, as 
Enoch was translated, that it is said of the right- 
eous man, "When the wicked are cut off, thou 
shalt see it." 

There is, then, such a thing as being saved 
from the terrors and sorrows of the great judg- 
ment time; and saved even from death itself, if 
living when that time comes. The only great 
matter on our part is, to be prepared and in con- 
dition for the blessed exemption. And what such 
readiness involves is sufficiently set forth. 

First of all, this exemption was promised only 
to Christians — to the followers of Christ. No 
such hopes are anywhere held out to non-Chris- 
tians, heathen, or unbelievers. A Christian is 
one who accepts Christ for his Saviour, and obedi- 
ently submits himself to Christ's ordinances and 
commands. And where there is no orderly en- 
listment under the Christian banner, there is no 
word of hope against the terrible trials of the 
great day. Furthermore, there must be careful 
guard against carnal and worldly excesses, which 
weigh down the soul and choke spirituality. 
Surfeiting, drunkenness, debauchery, and all 
wicked indulgences, as well as too much engross- 
ment with the cares and interests of this present 
life, must be avoided ; for there can be no standing 



28 THE PROMISED DELIVERANCE. 

with the Son of Man if overtaken in what so ill 
befits a Christian. There be many whom that 
day will take unawares, as a snare upon an unsus- 
pecting animal, because too much preoccupied 
with earthly cares and vanities. Even otherwise 
Christian people may imperil everything by lack 
of carefulness on this point. 

Another direction is to watch. This is one of 
the Saviour's oftenest spoken and most empha- 
sized admonitions; and it means constant wake- 
fulness and expectancy. It means the treatment 
of the coming of the great day as a fixed and un- 
doubted certainty, and the time an absolute uncer- 
tainty. If we do not believe in any such crisis to 
come, we cannot be watching for it; nor can we 
rightly watch for it if we persuade ourselves that 
it cannot come in our lifetime. 

And, with this watching, there must needs also 
be continuous praying. The word is, "Watch, 
and pray always, that ye may be accounted wor- 
thy to escape all these things that shall come to 
pass, and to stand before the Son of Man." 
Prayer is as essential to true religion as language 
to poetry, or the atmosphere to music, or thinking 
to philosophy. There is no Christian life which 
does not voice itself in prayer. How indeed can 
one love God who never speaks to Him, and 
avoids all communion with Him! 

But our praying must include a specific and 
earnest aim and desire for this exemption from 
the tribulations of the judgment times. We may 
die before Christ comes; but if we die expecting, 



SECOND SUNDAY IN ADVENT. 20, 

watching, and looking for Him, as if He may 
come while we are yet alive, we certainly shall 
not fail to be among those who sleep in Jesus, 
and whom He will bring with Him when He 
comes. In this line, therefore, are we to direct 
our aspirations and our prayers, being duly care- 
ful also to live as we pray. 

And the nearer that time may be, the more 
cause there is for us to rejoice. However mys- 
terious and solemn, we are abundantly certified 
that it will be in all respects a blessed time to 
those who have made Jesus their trust and hope. 
Our Lord speaks of it as the time of our redemp- 
tion, the opening of a glorious summertime for 
the Kingdom of God. Having been ' ' once offered 
to bear the sins of many ; unto them that look for 
Him shall He appear the second time without sin 
unto salvation." 

And a great and blessed salvation it will be. 
What all is involved we cannot fully tell. 

Think of change from mortal to immortality 
without tasting of death! 

Think of these coarse, cumbrous, earthy, aching, 
dying bodies suddenly transfigured into the like- 
ness and beauty of the glorious body of Jesus, 
lifted into equality with angels, and purged of all 
weaknesses, weariness, and waste! 

Think of painless and triumphant escape from 
a world smarting under the curse, convulsed with 
judgment, and tortured with the throes of ap- 
proaching dissolution! 

Think of mounting up, as on eagles' wings, to 



30 THE PROMISED DELIVERANCE. 

the heights above the clouds, there to stand ac- 
cepted before the Son of Man! 

Think of the blessedness of meeting that 
Saviour whom we love, seeing Him as He is, and 
being ever with Him! 

Think of the immortal crowns, the golden seats, 
and the sublime association with * the King of 
Glory in His judgment of the world! 

Think of the excellences of the new heavens 
and earth, and of Kingly rule with Jesus there, 
where tribulation, tears, and death are forever 
done away! 

O dear friends, is not this enough to make us 
rejoice, and be glad at sight of signals that the 
time is near? Who indeed can enter into the 
subject as the Scriptures present it, and not feel 
the prayer rising to his lips: Come, O Thou Prince 
of all the Kings of the earth! Put on the visi- 
ble robes of Thy imperial Majesty, and come; for 
now the voice of Thy Bride calleth Thee, and 
all creatures sigh to be renewed. Even so come, 
Lord Jesus. 



Third Sunday in Advejit. 




Now when John had heard in the prison the works of Christ, he 
sent two of his disciples, and said unto Him, Art Thou He that 
should come, or do we look for another? — Matt, ii : 2, 3. 

VERY great and good man is here 
brought to our attention. He was 
greater than the prophets that were be- 
fore him, — greater in his own depart- 
ment than any that had lived. Of this we have 
the testimony of Christ himself, who declared 
that "Among them that are born of women 
there had not risen a greater than John the Bap- 
tist. ' ' He was also a great preacher. He thrilled 
the nation with his . eloquence. Crowds, from 
Jerusalem, and all Judea, and all the regions 
round about Jordan, including Pharisees, Sad- 
ducees, and people of all classes, flocked to hear 
him, and to be baptized by him. And what is 
more, the one great topic of his preaching was, 
the coming of the Christ and the needed prepara- 
tion to stand before Him, which is everywhere 
the great theme of the Scriptures, and of all the 
inspired prophets, apostles, and greatest preachers. 
Yet, strange to say, we here find this great, 

31 



32 A GREAT MAN S PERPLEXITY. 

good, and powerful man "in prison." He had 
dared to rebuke sin in high places; and he was 
arrested and locked up for it. This shows what 
God's faithful servants are likely to receive from 
the unsanctifled world. Men may apologize for 
it as they please; but it has ever been resentful 
and ill-tempered toward honest truth-tellers and 
messengers of Heaven. It may respect and hear 
them for a time, and give them right in many 
things so long as favorite lusts are not assailed, 
and easy-going selfishness is not disturbed; but 
the moment carnal likes are crossed, and the 
demands of righteousness are pressed, the soul 
flushes with displeasure and resentment. When 
has there ever been a holy prophet who did not 
meet with a surly reception at the seats of earthly 
power? The Herods carousing in their palaces, 
and the Johns pining in their prisons, is a type 
of the common history. People may flatter them- 
selves that human nature is changed, and that the 
world of to-day is animated by a different spirit; 
but the offence of the cross has not ceased. L,et 
the test be applied, and the carnal mind will be 
found, as always, at enmity with God. It spat on 
Christ and nailed Him to the cross; and whatever 
civility it may show under modern constraints, it 
is ever ready to discount the standing of true 
Christians, to pass them by with smiles that are 
sneers, and to despise and hate those who cour- 
ageously assail its wickednesses. It will not be 
so always. There is a day of righteous retribu- 
tion coming, when all these inequalities shall be 



THIRD SUNDAY IN ADVENT. 33 

rectified. But in the present order of things, 
and while this dispensation lasts, the good and 
faithful cannot expect to get their reward here. 
The Church of Christ is bound to bear the cross 
till Christ comes for her deliverance. 

For a time John was not unhappy in his im- 
prisonment. A good conscience is a great com- 
fort when a man is wrongfully dealt with; and a 
man like John the Baptist would willingly suffer 
rather than be untrue to his commission or un- 
faithful to his ministry. But he was sustained by 
a higher consolation. He believed in the near- 
ness and presence of the great Judge himself. Of 
this he was profoundly convinced. He had had 
the evidence from God that the Messiah was then 
already in the world. He had heard the voice 
from heaven saying, " This is my beloved Son, in 
whom I am well pleased." He had baptized 
Jesus, and had seen the Holy Ghost descend upon 
Him, and testified, saying, "He that sent me to 
baptize with water, the same said unto me, Upon 
whom thou shalt see the Spirit descending and 
remaining on Him, the same is He that baptizeth 
with the Holy Ghost. And I saw, and bear record 
that this is the Son of God." He had repeatedly 
pointed to Jesus, saying, ' ' Behold the Lamb of 
God that taketh away the sin of the world." He 
was, therefore, sure that the great Lord and 
Judge was already present, with fan in hand to 
separate the chaff from the wheat, and about to 
burn it up with unquenchable fire. He knew 
that it was part of the great Messiah's work to 
3 



34 A GREAT MAN S PERPLEXITY. 

bring blessed deliverance to His people, to open 
the prison doors to them that were bound, and to 
visit judgment upon their oppressors. This is 
what he had preached. And the persuasion that, 
in a little while, the Saviour would avenge the 
wrongs he suffered, dethrone the tyrant, and 
clothe His faithful servant and forerunner with 
glory and honor, was a special consolation to him. 

There is a marvellous power in the doctrine 
of the near coming of the Christ. It is specially 
adapted to comfort and sustain believers amid 
their earthly tribulations. Its adversaries have 
called it the doctrine for evil times, which, to its 
credit, it surely is. It blunts the edge of afflic- 
tions. Nothing can crush the spirit that is daily 
looking for the coming of the Lord with full re- 
demption for His people and ample compensations 
for all their pains and hardships here endured. 
And this it was that upheld and cheered the soul 
of this baptizer in his imprisonment. 

But, with all his confident anticipations, he was 
presently overtaken with a sore mental perplexity. 
What it was the text indicates. When he heard 
in the prison the works of Christ, and what 
blessed things were being done for other people, 
he could not understand why nothing was done 
for him. Was he not a sufferer for truth's sake? 
Had he not been faithful to his mission ? If any- 
body was to be favored, was he not entitled to it, 
at least to the extent of being given his liberty ? 
Was he not Christ's own relative? and had he not 
also accredited Him as the Christ ? How was it 



THIRD SUNDAY IN ADVENT. 35 

then that he was left to pine in prison, while his 
oppressor was left to nourish ? He was sure that 
Jesus was the Christ, and he knew what work of 
righteous judgment the Christ was to perform,- 
and yet that work was not being done as he con- 
ceived it. 

The plain truth is, that John was not only mys- 
tified, but hurt; I might say somewhat offended, 
Ivike all the Old Testament prophets, he had not 
learned to distinguish between the two Advents. 
He was under the persuasion that everything 
prophesied of the Christ was to be fulfilled and 
accomplished all at once; and the slowness of the 
Saviour to take in hand to destroy the wicked, 
and deliver His faithful relative and forerunner, 
confused his thinking, disappointed his faith, and 
somewhat ruffled his feelings. 

It is not uncommon for believers, even those 
strongest in faith, to be thrown into perplexity 
and distressing questionings. Luther, with all 
his robust faith and confidence in the divine 
word, had his days of spiritual anguish and de- 
spondency. Bunyan, with a spirit of assurance 
that could body forth things unseen as if he saw, 
and heard, and could touch them, tells of times 
when he felt so assailed and dismantled that the 
very foundations of his faith and hope seemed 
stricken from under him. Nor is it to be won- 
dered that John, so long wasting in prison, so 
sure that the Christ had come, and counting so 
firmly that all the prophets had said of Him was 
now to be fulfilled without further delay, was 



36 A GREAT MAN'S PERPLEXITY. 

thrown into a sad condition of mind and feeling 
when he heard of the works of Christ, that they 
were nothing but mercy to the poor and afflicted, 
while the tyrant was undisturbed, and he was left 
to suffer for righteousness' sake. It could not well 
have been otherwise, believing as he did. The 
very faith and confidence of Christians may some- 
times be troubled with puzzles and confusing dis- 
appointments through imperfect apprehensions 
and erring expectations. 

But hurt, perplexed, and disappointed as John 
was, he pursued the right course for relief. He 
did not sulk in resentful anger, or impatiently 
drop the whole matter as no longer worthy of his 
attention. It was a thing too solemn for that; 
and he was too great a man to surrender to such 
pettish littleness. He resolved to bring his feel- 
ings to the attention of Christ himself, and first 
get what He had to say by way of explanation. 
A prisoner in jail, he could not go himself; there- 
fore he sent ' ' two of his disciples ' ' to carry and 
represent his case. 

Many would have disdained such a course. 
Even good people take up prejudices and strong 
dislikes from very much smaller things, which 
they interpret as slights, and are quick to resent. 
Construing a thing into an offence, they refuse to 
have any more to do with the one concerned. 
Some reason themselves into unpleasant doubts 
and perplexities in matters of religion, and then 
stand aloof, more than half skeptical, because 
they cannot reason themselves out again. People 



THIRD SUNDAY IN ADVENT. 37 

find it hard to make the truths of revelation, or 
the plans and doings of God, answer to their pre- 
conceptions and crude notions; and, right off, 
Christ, and Church, and sacraments, and all 
faith, are consigned to the dogs. And some 
esteem it manly and intellectual so to order them- 
selves. To right thinkers there is no greater im- 
becility. All just reason, and all proper feeling, 
are on the side of John. Because he was hurt, 
and tried, and thrown into a whirl of distressing 
perturbation with respect to Christ, he did not 
throw aside his former confidence, or drop all fur- 
ther interest in his Lord. He would first bring 
the matter to the One he was disposed to blame, 
and give chance for some modifying solution of 
the trouble. Nor can we ever do better than to 
follow his example in all such cases. 

John's course proved a happy success. With 
the utmost sympathy and kindness, the merciful 
Saviour answered to his message, although it had 
in it the tone of dissatisfaction and complaint, if 
not of censure. Jesus knew the goodness, hon- 
esty, and fidelity of the great baptizer, and could 
appreciate his trouble. There was really no flaw 
in the matter at which John felt so perplexed and 
offended. All was going exactly right. John 
was not mistaken in his identification of Jesus as 
the Christ; and all was bound to come out as was 
predicted. Only he was too far in advance in his 
expectations. Had he fully estimated and under- 
stood " the works" of which he had heard, he 
would have seen that the Messianic activities 



38 A GREAT MAN'S PERPLEXITY. 

were going on, and that very power being exer- 
cised which would accomplish all; only the time 
for the final judgment, and the violent suppres- 
sion of Herod and all anti-Christianism had not 
yet come. Such was the tenor of the Lord's 
reply, directing the messengers to show John 
again what was being done, and sent His Mes- 
sianic benediction upon His hurt and perturbed 
friend, saying, "Blessed is he, whosoever shall 
not be offended in Me. ' ' 

It was enough. It pacified the illustrious pris- 
oner. It assured him that Christ knew what He 
was about, and that all would come out right, as 
God planned and prophets foretold. It helped to 
reconcile him to his situation. It comforted and 
relieved his perturbed spirit. It taught him 
patience and rest in the blessed Lamb of God. 
And so he passed in triumph to a martyr's crown. 

Yes, if you feel offended with your friend, go 
to him first; tell him of your feelings; hear his 
side of the matter without prejudice; and the 
chances are that the trouble will be much abated, 
and probably entirely removed. And if your 
cherished hopes and ideas in matters of religious 
faith meet with disappointing and vexatious re- 
verses, and your experiences do not turn out as 
you supposed; go to Jesus; consider more care- 
fully His method, purposes, and word. Look 
again at what you thought you so well under- 
stood, and prayerfully .seek the light you need; 
and you will not be left without comforting satis- 
faction. Try it; imitate the great baptizer in his 



THIRD SUNDAY IN ADVENT. 39 

perplexity; and you will never have cause to 
regret it. Nay, whatever we may think or feel, 
of this we may be sure, as John was assured : 

1. The word of the Lord stands firm. Forty 
centuries had passed, and multitudinous changes 
and revolutions had rolled over the world from 
the time the first promise of the victorious seed 
of the woman was given; and yet He had not 
come. But the word was neither dead nor for- 
gotten by Him who gave it. When the fullness 
of the time was come, He came. With all the 
unbelief and apostacies of men, and with all the 
machinations of hell, there was no failure of what 
the Lord had spoken. Let come what will; let 
erring reason question and doubt as it may; the 
word of the Lord stands firm. 

2. The zvork of the Lord goes on. Unseemly 
and doubtful as may be the appearances, there is 
neither hindrance nor stoppage to the outworking 
of Jehovah's will and purposes. Elijah may de- 
spond, and give up all for lost. John may be 
driven to extremities, and feel as if compelled to 
surrender what he so honestly believed and so 
earnestly preached. And the wiseacres of this 
world may give out that the Church is moribund; 
that the hopes of the saints are nickering to 
extinction; that the old faith must go. But, 
God is on the throne. His cause is ever safe. 
And, amid all the turmoil, the changes, and the 
doubts, the work of the Lord goes on. 

3. And the consummation cometh. Unbelief 
may vaunt itself and ask, "Where is the promise 



40 A GREAT MAN'S PERPLEXITY. 

of His coming?" Scientists may argue the per- 
manence of nature, and claim that, "since the 
fathers fell asleep, all things continue as from the 
beginning of the creation." The very Church 
itself may become oblivious to the foreshowings 
of the prophetic word. But "the Lord is not 
slack concerning His promise as some men count 
slackness. ' ' He has no cause for haste. Eternity 
is His. And what He has begun He will carry 
to completion. In the decrees of invincible God- 
head it is settled that ' ' the Lord will come, and 
will not keep silence ; ' ' and that out of the ashes 
of a world baptized and cleansed by fire shall 
come "new heavens and a new earth, wherein 
dwelleth righteousness. ' ' 

And what, then, dear friends, is the great mat- 
ter for us? The way of duty is plainly given. 
We must hold fast our faith. We must have con- 
fidence in the Christ. And "seeing that we look 
for such. things," we must be diligent, in order to 
be found of our Lord in peace, without spot, and 
blameless. 



©f)e Jog of J^attf). 

Fourth Sunday in Advent. 




Rejoice in the Lord alway : and again I say, Rejoice. — Phil. 4 : 4. 

T would seem that the apostle considered 
it the privilege and duty of all Christians 
to be uninterruptedly happy and joyous. 
This is a very remarkable presentation. 

It is remarkable, as coming from St. Paul, who 
was a man of incessant toil and tribulation, ever, 
in conflict with visible and invisible powers, an 
example of sufferings which made him a spectacle 
to men and angels, and a man whose temper was 
intensely serious, severe, and vehement. 

It is remarkable, in view of the ordinary state 
of mankind in this world, which is everywhere 
mixed with sorrow, the sunshine often interrupted, 
and the shadows often very deep. 

It is remarkable, in being addressed to these 
Philippians; who were much grieved over their 
apostle's imprisonment at Rome; who, with 
Christians in general at that time, were in con- 
stant anxiety by reason of abounding persecution, 
and around whom everything was more or less 
adverse to their peace of mind. 

It is remarkable, also, in being placed in spe- 



42 THE JOY OF FAITH. 

cific connection with the prospect of the speedy 
coming of the Lord; regarded usually as a matter 
of solemn fear and awe, calling rather for the 
utmost seriousness and anxious concern. 

And it is well worthy of our devout considera- 
tion that such a man, at such a time, to such peo- 
ple, under such apprehensions, should give it as a 
matter of privilege and duty, not only to be free 
from all saddening depression and disturbing per- 
turbation, but to be cheerful and happy withal, 
maintaining a mood and temper of constant and 
peaceful rejoicing. 

Many have the notion that to be a Christian is 
to be austere, morose, gloomy, and adverse to all 
the natural enjoyments that give zest to life. The 
Gospel does, indeed, require some things which 
carnal nature does not fancy. Nor is any one 
more positive than this same apostle in demanding 
self-denial, the giving up of sin, and the mortifi- 
cation of the works of the flesh. But with all 
this, he both inculcated and exemplified a spirit 
of gladness and spiritual rejoicing. The things 
to be renounced are those only which disable, 
harm, and destroy, and which a right man should 
be glad to be rid of. Why regret to abandon 
lusts which war against the soul, or selfish desires 
which contract and harden the heart, or turbulent 
passions which fill the mind with disquiet and the 
world with disorder, or the sins and follies which 
sacrifice purity, degrade character, and plunge 
into temporal and eternal ruin ? These and such 
like, Christians must needs surrender, and ever 



FOURTH SUNDAY IN ADVENT. 43 

fight against. But, as well might we condemn 
the surgeon for amputating a gangrened limb, or 
the physician for prescribing rigid treatment to a 
patient bloated with disease, as to fault and reject 
Christianity for insisting on the abandonment of 
what otherwise would surely kill and destroy 
both body and soul. Nor is it at all out of place 
to inculcate and cherish the spirit of grateful re- 
joicing even in combination with a season of 
penitence and spiritual humiliation. 

What is there, then, in Christianity that should 
enable those who receive it to rejoice alway? 
And what is it so to rejoice in the Lord ? 

First of all, the believer has reason to rejoice 
alway in the great fact that a good, wise, and 
almighty God reigns; without whom nothing can 
happen, and who stands pledged to overrule 
everything for the best. This is the unequivocal 
teaching of Christianity, which no one can doubt 
or question and still be a proper Christian. And 
a wonderful source of comfort it is to all who duly 
take it in. It is something upon which the soul 
can rest in hopeful gladness, amid the worst ad- 
versities. With a living, good, ever-present, and 
almighty God to depend on, and knowing that 
He careth for us with a father's tenderness, we 
have an effectual bar against the inroads of de- 
spondency and despair. Fully persuaded that 
His gracious providence is in whatsoever comes 
to pass; that nothing can exceed His wisdom or 
escape His control; and that under His governance 
all things must work together for good to them 



44 THE JOY OF FAITH. 

that love Him; we may, with joyous confidence, 
cast all our care upon Him, and say with peaceful 
submission and content, "It is the Lord, let Him 
do unto me what seemeth to Him good." 

The believer also has reason for incessant re- 
joicing, in the divine provisions for our salvation. 
The worst thing in the world is sin. All the ills 
and evils that earth has ever known have come 
from sin. What a curse and damage has it 
brought upon our race, and upon all nature in 
and around us! What distresses, what alarms, 
what fearful apprehensions, has it brought upon 
the human conscience, wherever awake to the 
real facts! Why it has been permitted in the 
realm of good Almightiness, is one of those mys- 
teries which we must leave to God to solve; but 
it is here, and upon every one of us, damaging 
our peace, and sure to sink us into endless miseries, 
unless met with arrest and deliverance which can 
only come from God. 

But Heaven has commiserated our condition, 
and provided a ransom, and laid help upon One 
mighty to save and strong to deliver. There is 
no reason now why any one living should perish ; 
and no true believer in Christ Jesus ever shall 
perish. There is no condemnation to them that 
have taken refuge under the cross. Are we guilty? 
He hath borne our sins in His own body on the 
tree. Have we become defiled in heart and life 
by the unclean thing? His blood cleanseth us 
from all sin. Does anything stand in the way of 
our eternal salvation? Christ is "made unto us 



FOURTH SUNDAY IN ADVENT. 45 

wisdom, righteousness, sanctification, and redemp- 
tion." And all this is abundantly availing on the 
easy terms of faith and loving obedience to Him 
who first loved us and gave himself for us. 
Surely, here is matter for grateful rejoicing and 
everlasting gladness. 

Furthermore, the Christian has reason to rejoice 
in the fact that all his privations, disabilities, and 
sufferings here will soon be over forever. "The 
Lord is at hand." The Saviour is presently to 
come again, — to come "to be glorified in His 
saints, and to be admired in all them that believe," 
when "the dead in Christ shall rise," and "we 
which are alive and remain shall be caught up 
together with them in the clouds, to meet the 
Lord in the air, and so be ever with the Lord." 
The Apostles contemplated that event as impend- 
ing, and liable to occur even in their day; and 
surely it is much nearer now. The times and 
seasons God has reserved in His own power; but 
the Saviour himself has given us command to 
watch and be in constant readiness for that sub- 
lime Epiphany. That promised coming of the 
Lord was a ' ' blessed hope ' ' to the early Chris- 
tians. They comforted themselves with it amid 
their many trials. They saw in it an end to their 
sufferings, which they deemed as nothing com- 
pared with the glory then to be awarded. It is 
not hard to submit to pain if we know it will be 
brief and will add to our joy. Nay, we may even 
glory in infirmities when assured that they are to 
bring diviner strength and eternal benediction. 



4.6 THE JOY OF FAITH. ' 

Meanwhile also the believer has ample resource 
in every time of need. There is a throne of grace, 
accessible at all times and from all places. In 
fact, he need never worry about anything, if only 
true to God and duty. Using his Christian privi- 
leges, and with grateful prayer and supplication 
making known his requests to God, he will not 
be left destitute of aught that is for his good. On 
this point the promises are numerous, positive, 
and most sacredly pledged. It matters not what 
the situation may be, the necessary help is within 
reach. And as nothing can separate the believer 
from the love of God, so nothing can separate him 
from the unfailing resources he ever has in the 
mercy and grace of God. 

Such, then, are the contents and blessings of 
Christianity to every one who truly embraces it. 
O the vastness, the richness, the wonderfulness 
of the assurances, possessions, and privileges of a 
believer in Jesus! What more could he ask to 
make him happy and ever joyous! 

Now, then, what is it to rejoice in the Lord? 
Here there is often serious mistake. 

To rejoice in the Lord is not a mere spurt of 
aroused emotion or temporary ecstacy which clasps 
hands and shouts Glory! Halleluia! True, re- 
ligion is nothing if it does not touch the heart 
and enlist the feelings; but mere emotionalism is 
not necessarily Christian at all. It is found asso- 
ciated with the vilest superstitions and with the 
densest ignorance of the only saving truth. 

Nor is rejoicing in the Lord a self-congratu- 



FOURTH SUNDAY IN ADVENT. 47 

latory elation over one's own virtues, devotions, 
and attainments. The Pharisee exultantly thanked 
God for his personal purity and his strictness in 
religion; but the Saviour did not therefore con- 
sider him an approved worshipper. His rejoicing 
was in himself, and not "in the Lord." Of 
course, faith fails if it does not lead and impel 
to a virtuous and dutiful life ; but a boastful good- 
ishness is a fearful taint to spiritual holiness. 

Neither does continuous rejoicing in the Lord 
consist of a life so even, calm, composed, and 
peaceful as never to feel a sorrow, grief, anxiety, 
or painful disturbance. Christianity does not ex- 
empt from adverse experiences, nor lift us above 
the common wants, cares, and frictions of this 
world. Neither is it meant to make us stony and 
unfeeling Stoics. Quiet submissiveness even is 
not a grace in itself, except as conjoined with 
faith, zeal, and active endeavor. Every one's day 
has its clouds and unpleasantnesses, which often 
seriously affect and fret the soul. Nothing on 
earth is perfect, and neither is our rejoicing in 
the Lord. Our knowledge is imperfect; our faith 
is subject to trials ; our surroundings are not 
always happy; and our duties are often hard. 
Even the Pauls sometimes cry, "O wretched man 
that I am. ' ' The surface of the sea is never per- 
fectly at rest, and is often terribly lashed and 
tossed; but, deeper down, all is as calm and 
peaceful as the starry heavens. And so with our 
earthly jo) r in the Lord. There may be tempo- 
ran- and disturbing commotions on the surface; 



48 THE JOY OF FAITH. 

but, deep down in the soul that has lain hold on 
God and His Christ, there is a calm and peaceful 
trust, always hopeful, always glad and joyous in 
the Lord, always thankful for His goodness. 

What is it then to "rejoice in the Lord alway?" 
It is to have firm and unyielding confidence in 
God, firm faith in Jesus, cheerful devotion to 
duty, and a serene hopefulness in the sacred 
promises. Where there is doubt, unbelief, de- 
jection, despondency, discontent with the dispen- 
sations of Providence, and lack of courage to do 
and bear for Christ's sake, there is no joy in the 
Lord. When Christian duty is a burden, and in- 
difference takes the place of diligence, and carnal 
ease is consulted, rather than the will and require- 
ments of God, there is no proper joy in the Lord. 
When people shrink from the confession of Christ, 
refuse place in the Church of Christ, and are more 
captivated and controlled by the ways, vanities, 
gains, pleasures, and pursuits of the world than 
by the love and calls and promises of Christ, 
their joy in Him is fatally weak. 

A reasonable enjoyment of the good things of 
this world is not inimical to joy in the Lord; for 
they are all from Him, meant for the comfort of 
His people, and to be received and appropriated 
with thanksgiving. Diligence in business, cheer- 
ful mingling with society, and the honest filling 
of places and relations in the social economy, 
need not hinder our joy in the Lord; for they are 
parts of the service ordained for human welfare 
and the divine glory. Joy in God carries with it 



FOURTH SUNDAY IN ADVENT. 49 

the honoring of all that is of God, as Christ him- 
self has set us the example. And, when the heart 
is right, there may be this joy even amid cares 
and sufferings. 

Our Maker means us to be happy, — happy in 
Him, — happy in His service, — happy in the lot 
providence has assigned us, — happy in every duty 
thereby imposed. For this He has made us, and 
redeemed us, and given us the directory of His 
Word and the gifts and guidance of His Spirit. 
There is a giddy mirth which is like "the crack- 
ling of thorns under a pot, n blazing, noisy, and 
soon expiring in smoke and darkness. There is 
a reckless and boisterous hilarity of life which 
takes delight in ignoring God and outraging the 
dignified solemnity of our being; but it is short- 
lived, and as melancholy in its end as it is silly in 
character and contemptuous of the cries of man's 
better nature. Of such abnormity and folly God 
and reason would have us beware; for there is no 
true nor lasting happiness in the paradise of fools. 

Hear, then, the conclusion of the whole matter: 
"Thus saith the Lord, Let not the wise man 
glory in his wisdom, neither let the mighty man 
glory in his might; let not the rich man glory in 
his riches: but let him that glorieth glory in this, 
that he understandeth and knoweth Me, that I 
am the Lord which exerciseth loving kindness, 
judgment, and righteousness in the earth: for in 
these things I delight, saith the Lord." 



Eift ffilafc f^attbitg. 

Christmas. 




For the grace of God that bringeth salvation hath appeared. — 
Titus 2:11. 

HE seasons in their round have brought 
us once more to our annual Christmas 
celebration. It is a glad festival, wel- 
comed by all. It comes in the darkest 
part of the year, when the days are shortest, na- 
ture deadest, and the season roughest; but it 
comes to create for us a garden of delight amid 
the drear and bleakness. It comes to cheer our 
homes, brighten friendships, transfigure childhood 
with angelic mirth, and make the old feel young 
again. It kindles new life and stir in the world, 
and fills our sanctuaries with grateful Halleluias. 
What, then, is the real meaning of Christmas? 
On what is its gladness founded ? We read the 
answer in the text : ' ' The grace of God that bring- 
eth salvation hath appeared." 

We stand by a manger in Bethlehem. In that 
manger lies a newborn babe, helpless, wrapped 
in swaddling clothes, and needing the service of 
friendly hands. But what is there remarkable 
or strange in that? L,et us see. From heaven 

50 



CHRISTMAS. 5 I 

comes word that this is no ordinary child. Born 
in time, He is yet said to be from old, from ever- 
lasting. Sacred messengers proclaim Him "the 
Son of the Highest. ' ' And the Eternal Father, 
bringing His first-begotten into the world, saith, 
" Let all the angels of God worship Him." 

We look, and listen, and hear, and wonder. 
Indeed, we are in the presence of the greatest 
miracle of time. Here is Deity in lowly infancy. 
Here is Divinity with our human nature taken 
into personal unity with himself. Here is one, 
"who, being in the form of God, and thinking it 
not robbery to be equal with God, laid aside the 
show of Deity, took the form of a servant, and 
was made in the likeness of men. ' ' Here is divine 
immensity in a little human body; omnipotence 
in infant weakness; the adored of angels in the 
condition of a weeping child; the Lord of glory 
born of a woman, and lodged in a cattle-cave! O 
the mystery, the impenetrable mystery of the In- 
carnation ! Verily ' ' Great is the mystery of God- 
liness, God manifest in the flesh." Our eyes are 
dazzled and blinded as we attempt to look into it. 
But the wonderful fact is there, and nothing can 
overthrow it. All history attests it. Our glorious 
Christianity sinks into empty flatness without it. 
Unbelief may scoff, and seek to explain away the 
miracle; but, with all that has been said, or can 
be said, the only consistent solution is that which 
the orthodox Church holds and confesses. That 
Babe is very God incarnate. 

What if it does transcend all scientific explana- 



52 THE GLAD NATIVITY. 

tion ? What if the depths of it are too great for 
human intelligence to fathom ? It is the same in 
other things. What in all the universe do we 
understand? And "a religion without its mys- 
teries is like a temple without its God." We can 
know the fact, and that is enough to explain 
everything a hundredfold better than any skepti- 
cal theorizing man has ever broached. 

And why doubt or reject it because we cannot 
explain it? If we are not to believe or act on 
anything until we perfectly understand it, we 
must unmake ourselves, and life becomes an im- 
possibility. But, God be praised, it is not necessary 
for us to understand either the biology, the physi- 
ology, or the metaphysics of our Saviour's Incar- 
nation. Joseph and Mary did not understand it. 
The shepherds who heard the angels sing over it 
did not understand it. The wise men who read 
the story of it in the stars did not understand it. 
But that did not hinder their believing and grate- 
ful joy in it. We believe a thousand other things 
that we cannot understand. Millions believe and 
know the worth and warmth of the sunlight, who 
are utterly at a loss to comprehend or explain it. 
The mystery of it is no barrier to their joy in it. 
And whether we understand or not how the eter- 
nal Son of God could become one with humanity 
in the condition of a babe, the wonderful fact 
stands revealed, and that is sufficient. Christian 
faith grasps it and rejoices in it; for therein it 
finds the grace of God that bringeth salvation. 

This grace was once a mere promise, — only a 



CHRISTMAS. 5 3 

word, — which the ancient Church received, be- 
lieved, and was jubilant in hope of Him who was 
to come. Christmas Day changed that grace of 
word and promise into the grace of living ful- 
filment, — and shows it outwardly embodied in 
human flesh and blood. The promise has cul- 
minated in a birth. Divine provision to save a 
fallen world hath u appealed." We see it in 
this manger at Bethlehem. We find it written, 
and we now behold it born, — born to grow, and 
mature, and act, till sin is cancelled, and the 
Kingdom of Heaven opened to all believers. Here 
is grace that has stirred the hearts and songs of 
angels, — even Divinity personally conjoined with 
humanity, and man's nature made one with the 
divine, to redeem us from the curse and con- 
demnation of sin. 

Is it asked whether this was necessary ? Judg- 
ing from what the Scriptures say and the nature 
of the case, the answer must be Yes; it was 
necessary. The Redeemer had to be a man to 
fulfill the law in the nature that sinned, and to be 
able to sympathize with those whom He came to 
redeem. But He had to be more than a man in 
order to satisfy the law and meet its penalty so as 
to avail for others. Nay, He had to be divine to 
have power to lay down His life, and then to take 
it again. And as God cannot suffer, nor man 
meet all the violated law's demands, so the divine 
had to take our nature, and through personal one- 
ness with the human to bring redemption. Hence 
the Son of God, the very outbeaming of the 



54 THE GLAD NATIVITY. ' 

Father's glory, to purge our sins, took not on 
Him the nature of angels, but took on Him the 
seed of Abraham, sharing with us our common 
humanity, sin only excepted. Yes, it behooved 
Him in all things to be made like unto His 
brethren, that He might be a merciful and faith- 
ful High Priest, make reconciliation for the sins 
of the people, destroy him who had the power of 
death, and deliver those who through fear of 
death were all their lifetime subject to bondage. 
And this wonderful, indispensable, and unsearch- 
able union of Deity in humanity, inseparable for 
ever in the Person of our adorable Lord and 
Saviour, is what this day brings before us in that 
manger-cradled Child. 

This, then, is what Christmas means. And 
now, how should we be influenced and affected 
by it? How keep and celebrate it? How mark 
the anniversary of the appearance of that astound- 
ing grace of God that bringeth salvation? 

Let us not heathenize it with the absurd fiction 
of "Santa Claus." That is a trick of Satan to 
betray Christians into idolatry. Children will soon 
find out the cheat, and so learn from parental 
example to lie and deceive. And why put the 
long dead St. Nicholas in the place of the ever- 
living Christ-child — the Christ- kind lein of our 
pious Saxon fathers, — the Christ-child, to whom 
Christmas owes its existence, and from whom 
come all Christmas gifts and joys, as every other 
good that is in the world. Make the young ones 
happy with your joyous surprises; but let them 



CHRISTMAS. 55 

know it is all from the blessed Christ, and not 
from a mythic saint, or a fictitious and prepos- 
terous thing that does not, and never did, exist. 

Christmas, as its name expresses, is a Christian 
festival, and should be pervaded with the Chris- 
tian spirit. It calls for joy indeed, but not for 
heathenish fantastics and lies. Let homes and 
friends be merry. Let there be light and cheer 
for every one. Good-willing is the spirit of the 
occasion. Let gifts and blessings flow in streams 
to gladden life and refresh and lift the soul. Let 
music swell, at least the music of the heart. Let 
every dwelling put on a goodliness to image a 
new Eden. All this is due and fitting. But let 
it not be forgotten that it is the birthday of the 
Christ, who is the spring and reason of it all. 

There is much merriment and rejoicing at 
Christmas time without thought or care for Him 
whose Nativity it commemorates. It is with 
many as with the crowd following a procession. 
They move with it; they are excited over it; 
they wildly cheer as it passes; but they are no 
part of it. The meaning of the thing they do 
not realize nor consider. In the true joy of it 
they have no share. They sing, and shout, and 
are boisterous and liberal enough in their re- 
joicing. They are even more gay, and loud in 
their merry-making than those who are deepest in 
it. Like Saul when he heard the singing of the 
prophets, they sing and dance most violently of 
all, but without the genuine inspiration. There 
is no right Christmas where there is no reference 



56 THE GLAD NATIVITY. 

to the babe of Bethlehem, no appreciation of the 
grace of God in sending us so great and wonder- 
ful a Saviour, no heart-gratitude for the coming 
of the Christ. 

There is in Bethlehem an old church edifice 
which roofs over the grotto in which it is believed 
Jesus was born. A large silver star lies on the 
spot, and over it hang golden lamps, kept always 
burning. These tell of The Bright and Morning 
Star and the never-dying golden light that issued 
from that dark place. Deeply impressive is the 
scene. I have seen even rough men drop upon 
their knees before it to give glory to God for what 
there came into the world. And to that spot our 
Christmas brings us to-day. Where the Shep- 
herds knelt in lowly adoration around that babe, 
there in spirit we would kneel, and for like pur- 
pose. Cherishing in our hearts the sweet picture 
of that sweetest, purest, holiest, divinest Child 
that ever appeared on earth, we know what has 
come of Him; what grace of God came with 
Him; what a work He has done for perishing 
humanity ; what a Kingdom of salvation He has 
set up; what glory and dominion He hath with 
the Father; what loving sympathy He feels for 
those who believe on Him; what a blessed heaven 
He is providing for us after we are done with this 
world ; how He condescends to hear our prayers, 
and feed and nourish us by His word and sacra- 
ments; and we would forfeit all claims to reason 
and righteous sensibility, not to rejoice in reverent 
thankfulness for His Nativity. 



CHRISTMAS. 57 

A precious Sacrament He has also left us by 
which to remember Him. In this He proposes to 
have us commune with Him in His glory, and to 
seal unto us all the fruits of His merciful achieve- 
ments. To this, then, let us come with glad and 
joyous attestation of our faith in Him, as the 
acme and crown of our Christmas Festival, and 
as our highest earthly converse with Him who 
was born at Bethlehem, crucified on Calvary, and 
is alive for ever to fill the world with His glory. 



®i)e ©racious ©rrani, 

Sunday after Christmas. 




For the Son of Man is come to seek and to save that which was 
lost. — Luke 19 : 10. 

"HE Christian world is still aglow with 
the glad celebration of our Saviour's 
birth. In the text we have His own 
naming of himself, and of the purpose 
of His coming. 

You will notice that He does not say, / am 
come, although He means himself. His language 
is, "The Son of Man is come." This is the 
formula in which He often designated himself, 
and not without important significance. 

It is not intended as a denial of His divine 
Sonship. He all the while assumed and marvel- 
lously demonstrated that He was truly the Son 
of God. Peter confessed Him as ' ' the Christ, 
the Son of the Living God," and He answered to" 
it with commendation and blessing, as the very 
truth on which His Church was to be built. But 
the great wonder in His case was, not that the 
Son of God should concern himself in human 
affairs, but that He should have taken on Him 
man's nature, to become a real member of our 

58 



SUNDAY AFTER CHRISTMAS. 59 

race. This, however, was a necessity in order to 
be to us an effectual Saviour; and hence His care- 
fulness to impress and emphasize the wondrous 
fact, that, though the very Son of God, He was, 
and ever will be, as truly and unchangeable "the 
Son of Man. ' ' 

This way of emphasizing his human Sonship 
implied that He had none of the limitations, 
narrownesses, or imperfections that mark other 
men. He was not the Son of a section, or of a 
particular age, country, or class; but the Son of 
man, as if the whole human race had come to its 
highest bloom in Him. He was a Jew by birth, 
but with nothing of Jewish peculiarities or preju- 
dices to separate Him from the rest of mankind. 
He was cosmopolitan in all the elements and 
make up of His character. Everything truest 
and best in every man, and everything tenderest 
and purest in every woman, was summed up in 
Him, making of Him, as a man, the very flower 
of all humanity. 

The same also emphasized His nearness to us. 
As the Son of Man, He is the relative and brother 
of every member of our race — bone of our bone, 
and flesh of our flesh. He is therefore capable of 
being ( ' touched with the feeling of our infirmity ; ' ' 
and, being "tempted in all points like as we are," 
He is the better able to "succor them that are 
tempted." And one of the greatest of consola- 
tions that Christians have, is, that God hath sent 
us a Saviour who has a brother's heart, as well as 
an almighty arm. 



60 THE GRACIOUS ERRAND. 

As a man He can sympathize with us in all our 
weaknesses and trials; and as the Son of man, 
and not of a sect or party, His sympathies are as 
wide ranging as the race itself, embracing Samar- 
itans as well as Jews, Roman soldiers as well as 
honored scribes, the Magdalenes as well as the 
sisters of Bethany, the fishermen of Galilee as 
well as the priests of Jerusalem, the Zaccheuses 
and Levis as well as the Peters and Johns, chil- 
dren and menials and lepers and sinners and male- 
factors as well as the greatest and worthiest of 
mankind. He is "the Son of man;" therefore, 
wherever beats a human pulse, or a heart that 
sighs for deliverance, there He is with a true 
brother's love and tenderness. 

All this is certainly included in His description 
of himself as the Son of Man." 

Notice now His account of the purpose for 
which He came into the world, — "The Son of 
Man is come to seek and to save that which was 
lost" 

Men act from different impulses and aims in 
life: some to better their condition, to augment 
their fortunes, to gratify their lusts and fancies; 
some for glory, to win applause, to make them- 
selves a name; and some to help the poor and 
helpless, to maintain right, to deliver the suffer- 
ing and oppressed, and to promote the enlighten- 
ment and general good of their fellow-men. But 
that which moved the Son of God to take our hu- 
manity upon Him, and to become the Son of Man, 
was, ' ' to seek and to save that which was lost. ' ' 



SUNDAY AFTER CHRISTMAS. 6 1 

Some years ago, a man was at work amid a lot 
of strange bones that had been dug up out of the 
earth. No one knew to what sort of a creature 
they belonged, and few cared to know. But the 
man was familiar with comparative anatomy, and 
was thus enabled to bring those strange old frag- 
ments together in place, and to fill out what was 
wanting by what was necessarily implied. And 
when he had done his work, there stood forth a 
wondrous form of being, as it lived and moved a 
hundred ages in the past. And so, when the 
Son of Man came, the world had become a gen- 
eral wreck. Humanity, as depicted in Ezekiel's 
vision, had become a valley of dry bones. And 
to gather up and reconstruct these damaged re- 
mains to something of their primeval type, to 
breathe life into them, and to restore man to his 
original God-likeness and glory, was the purpose 
for which the blessed Saviour came. ' ' For the 
Son of Man is come to seek and to save that 
which was lost." 

The man of science, at work with his old bones, 
could do no more than recover a dead form of the 
past, which would always remain dead. He could 
not put life into it. But the office of the Son of 
Man is to give life, to quicken dead souls, to 
shape them into saints, and to endow them with 
a blessed immortality. 

And by very simple means does He accomplish 
this. Having purchased redemption by His cross, 
by His word, providence and Spirit, He now 
seeks out the sinful, the sorrowing and the lost, 



62 THE GRACIOUS ERRAND. 

offers His free forgiveness to the contrite and 
penitent, and breathes into them the life of faith, 
hope, and charity. By a principle of love which 
never wanes, by a human sympathy which never 
tires, and with a plenitude of renewing power 
which never exhausts, He comes to every lost and 
anguished soul, offering to assuage its misery, to 
lift it out of its distresses, and to set it on the 
path of eternal salvation, on the simple terms of 
His Gospel. His mission, as named by himself, 
is, to comfort them that mourn, to bind up the 
broken-hearted, to speak peace to the downcast 
and troubled, to mollify the sorrows of the af- 
flicted, and to give hope and happiness to those 
ready to perish ; for He is come ' ' to seek and to 
save that which was lost. ' ' 

And what, dear friends, are we, without Him, 
but damaged, helpless, and lost men and women? 
Even in the vast favors amid which we have been 
reared, and our instruction in the things of Christ 
and salvation, we can scarcely look at ourselves 
and think of the judgment without trembling 
and fear, or call ourselves to strict account with- 
out realizing how utterly hopeless our case is 
without the gracious forgiveness to be found alone 
in Jesus. But the Son of Man is come for our 
help. Sinful and unclean, He is here for our 
relief and cleansing. Poor and friendless, He is 
here to sympathize with us, and to speak words 
of consolation to our souls. Homes darkened 
with sorrow, He is here to illuminate and cheer. 



SUNDAY AFTER CHRISTMAS. 63 

Slavery to sin and vice, He is here to break and 
to strengthen the released for abiding deliverance. 
With death and the grave before us, He is here to 
sustain in the mysterious voyage, and to make a 
dying bed feel soft as downy pillows are. And 
whatever else there may be to weigh us down, or 
to make us despair, He is here to modify and 
banish it, and to bless with the joys of an ever- 
lasting salvation. For " the Son of Man is come 
to seek and to save that which was lost. ' ' 

And to assure and certify this to us all the more 
tangibly and individually, He has instituted the 
Holy Sacrament of His Supper, in which He 
gives to each His Body and His Blood, broken 
and shed for us and for many for the remission 
of sins; that, as we take and eat, and take and 
drink, we have from Him the personal pledge of 
the redemption which He is come to fulfill to 
every believer. For whoso eateth of this bread, 
and drinketh of this cup, firmly believing the 
words of Christ, and resting devoutly upon Him, 
dwelleth in Christ, and Christ in Him, and hath 
eternal life. 

He was the Word that spake it ; 
He took the bread and brake it ; 
And what that Word did make it, 
Let us believe and take it. 



Epiphany. 




Behold, there came wise men from the east to Jerusalem, saying, 
Where is he that is born King of the Jews ? for we have seen his 
star in the east, and are come to worship him. — Matt. 2:1,2. 

HK Festival of the Epiphany, although 
one of the oldest and most significant 
of our Church Festivals, is, for the most 
part, indifferently observed. The facts 
which it celebrates are certainly remarkable, and 
instructive enough to deserve our earnest atten- 
tion. 

At the place which Micah had named, at the 
time which Daniel had indicated, and in the won- 
derful manner which Isaiah had described, the 
great Messiah was born. An angel had announced 
the fact to the humble shepherds in the vicinity, 
and the heavenly hosts had sung their ' ' Glory in 
Bxcelsis ' ' over it. Those who witnessed these 
wonderful demonstrations, had hasted to see what 
had come to pass, and were publishing abroad 
what had been told them from heaven concerning 
this manger-cradled Child. 

A grand and glorious Epiphany had thus been 
made; but it was confined to Judea and the Jews. 

64 



EPIPHANY. 65 

The text refers to another, no less marvellous, 
touching the same facts, outside of the race and 
lands of Israel. While to Jacob's seed pertained 
the adoption, and the glory, and the covenants, 
and the giving of the law, and the service of God, 
and the promises; and from them as concerning 
the flesh came the Christ, blessed for ever; the 
Gentile world had not been forgotten, nor left 
without demonstrations of the advent of a Saviour 
for all men. Far-off saintly sages were made 
aware of the fact, and came to worship Him, and 
laid their costly offerings at His infant feet. The 
manifestations in Judea were to be expected, as 
the promises were to the children of Israel ; but 
these manifestations among the far-away ethnic 
peoples are the more to be wondered at and ad- 
mired. 

It is a great mistake, however, to think the 
whole race outside of the chosen people had been 
delivered over to the evil one, and that all were 
alike without God and without hope in the world. 
We must not forget Job, and Melchisedec, and 
Jethro, and Balaam before his fall, and other men 
of faith in God of whom we read in the sacred 
Word. And so, at the time Christ was born, 
there still were some noble souls who clung to 
the primeval promise of the Seed of the woman, 
and read of Him in the heavenly Constellations, 
and found among the stars the signs and tokens 
that He had come. 

Just who these people were has not been told 
us. That they were Gentiles, the Church as- 
5 



66 A NOBLE TESTIMONY. ' 

sumes and nearly all interpreters maintain. That 
they were from the far east from Palestine, is 
clearly asserted in the record; but whether from 
Chaldea, or Persia, or Bactria, or Arabia, cannot 
be determined by present knowledge of the sub- 
ject. That they were Kings, and that their num- 
ber was three, as some have assumed, the Scrip- 
tures do not say. That they were distinguished 
men, rich men, and men of high degree in the 
communities in which they lived, is certainly 
implied. That they were "wise men," — men 
skilled in the best learning of their time and 
country — is abundantly indicated. The ancient 
Magi were a learned priestly order, mostly occu- 
pied with matters of religion, astronomy, and the 
sacred sciences. They were the teachers of kings 
and people in divine wisdom. Daniel in his day 
was the president of their guild in Babylon; and 
from among them Cyrus choose his priests for Per- 
sia. Their theology was the noblest and purest 
then extant in the ethnic world. And to this 
order, Matthew tells us, these men from the sun- 
rising belonged. 

They came to Jerusalem, showing a very defi- 
nite knowledge and a very assured faith with 
regard to the birth and character of the Christ. 
They contemplated Him, even in His cradle, as a 
great worshipful Being, by birth a Jewish Prince, 
but one whom it was their devout desire to see, 
and their religious duty to greet with humble 
adoration. 

Whence thev obtained such clear and definite 



EPIPHANY. 6? 

knowledge, has been the subject of much learned 
and unsatisfactory conjecture. The alleged wide- 
spread expectation of a great triumphing Prince 
then about to appear, cannot explain it. Frag- 
ments of Hebrew prophecies that may have floated 
down among the Gentiles from the times of the 
Jewish Captivity in Babylon, cannot explain it; 
for these Magi knew more about the matter than 
the Jewish Scribes and Pharisees. A special rev- 
elation for the occasion, without further record, 
is so unlike what we know of God's methods, and 
so improbable, that there is no adequate warrant 
to suppose it. The appearance of a new light in 
the heavens, a comet, a meteor, a sort of Will-o'- 
the-wisp to go before them and lead the way, 
cannot explain it, without something more to tell 
them that it referred to the birth of an adorable 
Prince in Judea, and that it was their duty and 
interest to follow it. They speak of having "seen 
His star in the east;" but that must needs have 
been contemplated in connection with a further 
record or system containing the full story of the 
virgin-born Redeemer. 

Such a starry record we now know did exist, and 
exists to this day, in the forty-eight Constellations 
of the Primeval Astronomy, in which the whole 
story of the Serpent and the Cross was hung upon 
the stars from the beginning. In the Zodiac, with 
its Decans, — in what Herschel called "those un- 
couth figures and outlines of men and monsters 
usually scribbled over celestial globes and maps, ' ' 
— the French atheists traced the main features 



68 A NOBLE TESTIMONY. 

and hopes of Christianity, thinking thus to prove 
our Gospel a mere copy from these old Constella- 
tions. Those who attempted to reply to their 
presentations, on examination were obliged to 
confess that the picture of the Son of the Virgin, 
including His conflicts, work, and final triumph, 
is there in very vivid outline. And there it cer- 
tainly is. It is a sublime truth, which needs 
vastly more attention than it receives, that the 
Primeval Astronomy was Evangelic Prophecy, — 
the faith and hopes of the early Patriarchs, by 
inspiration of God, written on the face of the sky, 
symbolizing with startling clearness the Christ, 
in His whole character and work hitherto, and in 
what He is yet to achieve for our afflicted world. 

The Magi were special priest-astronomers, — 
devout students of these sky-records ; and thence 
it was that they, for the most part at least, ob- 
tained their knowledge and certifications concern- 
ing Him whom they came so far to find. The 
Psalmist says, " The heavens declare the glory of 
God," not only His wisdom, power, and handi- 
work, but much more His moral attributes and 
exhibits. The chief glory of God is Christ, who 
is "the image and glory of God;" nay, "the 
brightness" — the very outbeaming — "of His 
glory." There can be no declaring of God's 
full and proper "glory" which does not take in 
Christ, and the story of redemption through Him. 
As the heavens, then, "declare the glory of God," 
the story of Christ and redemption must some- 
how be recorded there. And there it is, in speak- 



EPIPHANY. 69 

ing Constellations, arranged by inspired believers 
before the flood, and furnishing a record which 
may still be read. 1 

And from the ' ' signs ' ' and Constellations noted 
in the Primeval Astronomy, and the legends and 
traditions connected with them, these "wise men" 
had their knowledge of the promised Seed of the 
woman. That was their Bible — the text-book of 
their faith and hope. Nor are we at a loss to un- 
derstand how they read from it what they did. 

By three successive conjunctions of Jupiter and 
Saturn in the same year, they knew, according 
to the traditional significance of conjunctions of 
these planets, that a birth of unprecedented char- 
acter and importance was about to occur, or had 
just occurred. By a new and very brilliant star 
then shining in the Constellation of Coma, the 
Constellation of the desired One, and located in 
the head of that Infant, hence called "His star" 
they knew that the birth indicated was the birth 
of "the Desire of nations," even the great Prince 
that was to come. And by all three of these sig- 
nificant and very rare conjunctions, in the Con- 
stellation of the Fishes, which was the Constella- 
tion traditionally assigned to God's chosen people, 
and so to the Jews, they knew that this marvellous 
Prince was born in Judea — u born King of the 
Jews." And so, by the impulses of the Spirit, 
which always attend the devout study of the 
truth, these "wise men" were moved to make 
their pilgrimage to Jerusalem, to find the miracu- 

1 See my Gospel in the Stars. 



JO A NOBLE TESTIMONY. 

lous Child, and to pay to Him their adoring 
homage. 

An admirable record did these ethnic sages thus 
make for themselves. Some hold that ignorance 
is the mother of devotion ; but here were men, 
among the most learned of their time, whose 
science served to bring them to a knowledge and 
recognition of the Christ. A little learning is 
often "a dangerous thing ;" but depth and honest 
thoroughness is sure to lead the soul to God, 
without whom nothing can be intelligently con- 
strued. These men wisely directed their studies 
toward spiritual ends ; and they reached clear con- 
victions, on which they were willing and ready to 
act, and did act, without regard to cost or incon- 
venience. In this respect they greatly shame and 
rebuke the materialism of our day, which ignores 
what concerns the soul, and most favors conclu- 
sions that would dethrone the Deity, and destroy 
the centre of the world's sublimest hopes by re- 
ducing the divine Christ to a myth, or a being 
like ourselves. Their opportunities for learning 
and knowing the truth were far more limited and 
difficult than those of the Jews of their day, or 
than those of the people now living ; and yet 
they learned it better, and sacrificed a thousand- 
fold more for it, than the loud professors in Jeru- 
salem, or the great body of so-called Christians 
in our day. When they knew where to find 
Christ, no distance, expense, or difficulties could 
hinder them from making their way to Him ; 
while many who have Him continually preached 



EPIPHANY. 7 1 

to them as a present and almighty Saviour, ready, 
waiting, and entreating to become their salvation, 
only turn a deaf ear, and never stir a step to come 
to Him! 

Very marked and cheering also is the testi- 
mony which these distinguished sages gave to 
the Saviour in whom we trust. They came ' ' to 
worship Him." They found a newborn babe, 
surrounded with extreme lowliness and poverty ; 
but that did not stagger them. When they saw 
Him, they ^fell doivii, and worshipped Him" 
and presented Him treasures, as to the worthiest 
and most honorable of kiugs. 

It is useless to say that this was only an expres- 
sion of ordinary civility. Men so great would 
not travel so far, at cost so heavy, to an insignifi- 
cant foreign country, to pay common compliments 
to a babe in rags, of whom the king knew noth- 
ing. Such a view of the case is simply absurd. 
In the Constellations from which they had their 
knowledge, Christ appears as the Son of a virgin, 
the Desire of nations, the Man of double nature 
on the Cross, the revived and exalted Shepherd 
and Harvester, the Vanquisher in the conflict 
with evil, the triumphing Hero, the Upholder of 
His people, the Binder of Satan, the invincible 
Ruler, the great Deliverer, the Captain of Salva- 
tion. And so it was that they conceived of Him 
when they came inquiring, " Where is He that is 
born King of the Jews?" In such a view their 
''worship" could not have been a mere civil 
obeisance. And the character of it, in men so 



72 A NOBLE TESTIMONY. 

great and high, and rendered to a babe in His 
condition, had quite another significance. It was 
sacred homage, and nothing less. It was the 
devout bowing of their souls in recognition of a 
Divine Saviour. It was an acknowledgment of 
their assured belief that the hope of the world lay 
in that swaddled Infant. In it we read a sublime 
confirmation of our Christian faith. These men 
had found the truth as we hold it, and they were 
consistent and true in confessing it by lowly 
homage and royal gifts. 

And a very worthy example did these " wise 
men ' ' set for our imitation. Their profoundest 
interest and anxiety had reference to the Christ, 
the long-promised Seed of the Virgin. They 
studied and searched for information concerning 
Him, as the worthiest subject of all human inves- 
tigation. Has this been our case ? Have we con- 
cerned ourselves to reach clear and settled under- 
standing as to who and what Jesus is, and what is 
due Him from us ? 

Nor was their faith in this newborn Saviour 
and King a mere dead and inert intellectual per- 
suasion. It stirred their hearts. It awakened 
their activities. It fashioned their purposes. It 
directed and controlled their lives. It moved 
them to great and costly exertions to come to 
Him as soon as they learned that He was within 
their reach. Has our learning of Him effected 
the same in us ? What movement have we made 
to come to Him ? What appreciation have we 
shown of our superior privileges in this regard ? 



EPIPHANY. 73 

What sacrifices of ease and convenience have we 
made to behold, acknowledge, and honor Him as 
our Lord and King ? 

These men worshipped Him even in His cradle. 
Is He the object of our sacred adoration? Do 
we look upon Him as our Lord, our Hope, our 
Saviour, even the incarnate God, after all the 
demonstrations He has given ? How do these 
Gentiles shame the abounding unbelief of our 
time ! 

These people gave their hearts, and with them 
much of their richest possessions. This material 
help was needed to assist in the flight to avoid the 
murderous designs of the bloody-handed Herod ; 
and the Saviour's cause is always in need of the 
liberal and substantial gifts of His worshippers, 
as much to prove their sincerity, as to further His 
triumphs. True faith means gifts and sacrifices. 
With the believing soul must go the generous 
hand, of which these Magians give us the proper 
illustration. Nor is it possible ever to do too 
much for Him who has done so much for us. 

Were the whole realm of nature mine, 

That were a present far too small ; 
Love so amazing, so divine, 

Demands my soul, my life, my all. 

And where genuine devotion reigns, God's favors 
are sure to be shown ; and holy intimations will 
come to direct us in our journey home. 



®f)e ©ffotfcrtr Inarms. 

First Sunday after Epiphatiy. 




Is not this the carpenter, the son of Mary, the brother of James, 
and Joses, and of Juda, and Simon ? And are not His sisters here 
with us ? And they were offended at Him. — Mark 6 : 3. 

gjg|]ROM this it appears that our Saviour was 
a mechanic, a carpenter ; and that He 
followed this trade up to the time of His 
public ministry. Though the family was 
of royal descent, the vicissitudes of the Jewish 
people had greatly reduced it ; and honest labor 
was accepted in preference to trying to maintain 
a wasted nobility in proud idleness and rags. 

It was a wise inculcation of the ancient rabbis, 
that every Jew should have some sort of trade. 
The saying was, that a parent who did not teach 
his son a trade, put him in training to become a 
thief. It would also be greatly better for the 
community, and give a more hopeful outlook for 
society, if greater weight were attached to this 
among us. High schools may be good things ; 
but when they come in the way of the training 
of our young people to earn an honest living, 
they had better not be. Saul of Tarsus, though 
one of the best educated young men of his day, 
74 



FIRST*. SUNDAY AFTER EPIPHANY. 75 

had to learn to weave tent-cloth and make tents, 
which came good to him even in his great work 
as an Apostle of Christ. 

It is no disgrace to be a mechanic. Skill in 
any useful art or handicraft is just as honorable 
as skill in any other department, and may effectu- 
ally help out where what is thought more digni- 
fied is of little or no account. People of wealth 
and blood, who boast their high estate, only prove 
their lack of sense by sneering at tradesmen and 
laborers. To be a competent shoemaker, tailor, 
baker, or bricklayer, is far worthier in all right 
valuation, than to be a genteel dog-fancier or sim- 
pering dude. Bishop Sanderson was not wrong 
when he said that idle gentlemen, the same as 
tramps and beggars, are the plague and scandal 
of a nation. If God himself were to come down 
into our world, to live here as a true man, He 
would choose some useful trade or occupation, 
and would attend faithfully to its duties. Yea, 
verily ; for He did thus come in Jesus Christ, and 
Jesus was a carpenter, a builder and repairer of 
houses, and a maker of plows and yokes. And 
it is particularly unbecoming in those who profess 
His Name to be ashamed of work, or to look with 
contempt upon craftsmen and operatives, as if 
they were a class of inferior beings. A thousand- 
fold more honorable is it for people to be occupied 
in honest toil, than to be idle vagabonds, and 
lounging do-nothings, living on the labor of 
others, or improvident spendthrifts frittering away 
their substance in extravagance and folly, paying 



y6 THE OFFENDED NAZARENES. 

their debts by bankrupt acts, depending as pen- 
sioners on their friends, and perhaps ending their 
lives in State prisons. The Lord of all was a 
carpenter ; and it detracted nothing from His 
heavenly dignity, and wrought no detriment to 
His greatness. 

It also appears from the text that the holiest 
lives, to outward view, may be much the same as 
others. Life has its daily rounds of work and 
rest, duties and necessities, for the pious the same 
as for every one else. For thirty years Jesus 
lived and wrought in and around Nazareth, with- 
out showing any specially marked difference from 
others of His age; and yet He was the purest and 
holiest man that ever lived, and really the Lord 
of all. 

It is altogether a mistake to suppose that piety 
means eccentricity, or is made up of certain extra- 
ordinary demonstrations. True religion does not 
require the carrying of a label on one's back to 
keep the world advised of it. People can be as 
good and holy in the ordinary paths of common 
life and duty, as in showy acts and manners which 
draw upon them public notice and attention. 
The Gospel calls us to be Christians, and the 
cheerful and honest discharge of the duties of our 
lot and situation belongs to proper Christianity. 
And no one is the holier, or the better off for 
heaven, for being a nun or an anchorite. 

We cannot say that all states and conditions 
of life are equally favorable to piety. There are 
situations in which it is hard to maintain a good 



FIRST SUNDAY AFTER EPIPHANY. J? 

conscience. But, if one cannot be true and faith- 
ful to God and right in the place or business in 
which he is, he must get out of it ; for a man had 
better starve and die than sell his soul for a little 
earthly gain. The Lord always has a way for his 
Daniels, Shadrachs, Meschacks, and Abednegos 
to maintain their souls untarnished even in the 
midst of a world of idolaters; and in most cases 
people can serve God quite as well by fidelity to 
the common duties of their lot, as by trying to 
make a providence of their own. The great mat- 
ter in any case is, to have faith in God, and to 
make sure of being on terms with Him, content 
to serve Him in such spheres and duties as have 
fallen to us, however trying or humble, till it may 
please Him to transfer us to other fields. 

But it further appears from the text that preju- 
dices and prepossessions are often great hindrances 
to salvation. These people were familiar with 
Jesus as an ordinary working-man, and one of 
themselves, and they could not bear the thought 
of His being the great Messiah when He began to 
assert His claims. They knew Him to be virtu- 
ous, industrious, kindhearted, truthful, and ex- 
emplary, and had heard Him read and preach 
with such clearness, power, and unction, ' ' that 
they were astonished, and said, Whence hath this 
man these things ? and what wisdom is this that 
is given unto Him?" They had never known 
Him to be fanatical, or given to extravagance, 
egotism, or insanity. They knew of His wonderful 
works. And they had every reason to believe 



yS THE OFFENDED NAZARENES. 

that He would not claim to be what He was not. 
Yet ' ' they were offended at Him, ' ' so much so 
that they even sought to kill Him. The trouble 
was that their prejudices got the better of their 
reason and good sense. They were looking for 
the Messiah to come as a great and mighty Caesar, 
to break the Roman yoke and make them the 
masters and possessors of the earth ; and hence 
they could not brook the idea that one from 
among themselves, belonging to so ordinary a 
rank of life, could be the sublime King and Re- 
deemer of the world. It so crossed their ways of 
thinking, and so offended their prejudices, that it 
stirred up their resentful passions, and caused 
them to reject and seek to destroy the true and 
only Saviour. "He came unto His own, and 
His own received Him not. ' ' 

And so it is even to this present. Nothing is 
more adverse to faith and salvation than the in- 
veterate prejudices and prepossessions of those to 
whom the Gospel comes. It is not that Christ 
fails adequately to commend himself to their con- 
fidence and acceptance. It is not that eternal life 
has not been brought near to them, even to the 
doors of their dwellings. The only trouble is 
that it comes in a way that does not suit their 
fancy. It does not come with pomp and circum- 
stance to captivate their carnal likes. It does not 
fit their notions. It conflicts with their estimates, 
tastes, and ideas. It demands admissions and 
concessions against themselves which do not 
flatter their self-consequence. There is too much 



FIRST SUNDAY AFTER EPIPHANY. 79 

of the carpenter, and the common, — too much 
humiliation of human pride, — too much bringing 
down of vain conceits, — to be relished by them ; 
and so Christ is rejected, the mighty work He 
would do for them is repelled, grace is refused, 
and salvation retires, leaving them to their ill 
judgments and unpardoned sins. 

Dear friends, it is a bad thing to set up our 
dreams and fancies against the claims of Jesus. 
Whether He comes as we would prescribe and 
prejudge, or in ways quite different from our likes 
and expectations, He comes with ample proofs 
and tokens that He is all that He claims and pro- 
fesses ; and it is our interest and duty to receive 
and welcome Him. His Christhood is not to be 
determined by the humbleness of His birth, or 
the rank of His schooling and trade, or the ordi- 
nary character of His relatives. Some of the 
world's greatest benefactors arose from very low 
estates. 

Neither can we be justified in thinking meanly 
of His Church because of the unattractiveness 
of its members, or the sacrifices to be made in 
accepting place in it. There is after all a superior 
glory in it beyond anything this world can offer. 
Though Christ was a carpenter, He was also the 
architect of the world, and its all-sufficient Re- 
deemer. And it was part of His glory that, being 
in the form of God, and thinking it no robbery or 
wrongful assumption to be equal with God, He 
condescended to partake of our common life and 



80 THE OFFENDED NAZARENES. 

lot, to be to us a Saviour, to whom we can look 
and feel as toward a brother. And to let our 
worldly temper turn us away from Him because 
He was a carpenter and lived among men as other 
men, is the height of unwisdom ; for its effect is 
to deprive us of the most precious opportunities 
that ever came to needy mortals, — to sacrifice our 
salvation to our own petty notions, — to repeat the 
folly of these offended Nazarenes. 

And equally at fault are they who plead the 
lowliness of their own station, trades, or occupa- 
tion, as an excuse for neglecting Christ and their 
souls. Jesus earned His living and supported His 
mother by serving as a carpenter, and it was no 
hindrance to His maintenance of a holy life. 
With His service at the bench He could still 
fulfill every duty to God and every precept of the 
law. No one is so disabled by his situation that 
he cannot also at the same time successfully 
attend to his spiritual wants. No demands of 
worldly business can justify or excuse impiety 
or neglect of God. Business men, and laboring 
men, and every sort of men, can also be Christian 
men, if so minded, without any detriment to 
legitimate earthly interests ; and they live beneath 
their privileges and their duty if they are not 
Christians. People may follow their daily avoca- 
tions and still serve God acceptably. Jesus did 
it, and worked as a carpenter at the same time 
that He ' ' increased in wisdom and in favor with 
God and man." Even trade, and labor, and 
common duty, belong to the service of God, if 



FIRST SUNDAY AFTKR EPIPHANY. 8 1 

undertaken in a right spirit, for a right end, and 
with proper reference to the divine will and favor. 
Therefore, let no one say that he is too low down 
in life, too much driven, too busy, too much con- 
strained by his situation, to serve his Maker ; for 
such is not the truth. 

Consider, then, dear friends, how the blessed 
Saviour comes to us, and what example He hath 
set us of humble, honest, and godly living. 
Think upon your manner of life, aud to what 
extent your hearts and energies are conditioned 
to His gracious proposals. Many, alas, are re- 
peating the conduct of these unbelieving Naza- 
renes. To many He is nothing but a carpenter, 
the brother of James, and Joses, and Juda, and 
Simon, beyond which they have no further use 
for Him. Though impressed by the grandeur of 
His teachings and the wonderfulness of His works, 
they are u offended at him" when He demands 
their confidence and their hearts. Many rail at 
His Gospel, and only despise those who believe 
and obey it. Yea, great is the company of those 
who disdain serious attention to the calls and 
claims of Jesus. 

O, ye people of unfaith, give ear, and consider 
your ways. You have much to question and 
object respecting this Jesus of Nazareth ; but in 
whom will you find a better? You have little or 
no regard for His Church ; but where else will you 
get such a salvation as it holds forth, proclaims, 
and effects? You object to the doctrines it 
teaches and the demands it makes ; but by what 



82 THE OFFENDED NAZARENES. 

other faith or conditions can you count on accept- 
ance in the judgment and a blessed eternity ? 
You sometimes dream of a better world ; but how 
will you ever reach it, while putting aside Him 
who alone is the Way, the Truth, and the L,ife ? 
You deem yourselves exempt because of your 
station or disabling surroundings ; your poverty, 
your daily labors, your unfavorable associations ; 
but, if Christ could live a perfect life as a poor 
carpenter for all those years in Nazareth, without 
interference with His business, how can you be 
justified in neglecting your soul for any such rea- 
sons as you allege ? 

Be not deceived, dear friends. If you are still 
among the unbelieving and unsaved, the trouble 
is not that you cannot do better, but that you 
will not. The Christ is here, teaching, and 
preaching, and proposing himself as the anointed 
Saviour; and His own word is, "Blessed is he 
that shall not be offended in Me." Why, then, 
give preference to your own erring fancies, and 
let the great salvation go ? O the unwisdom of 
the unbelieving! 




E\)t Higfjt of tf»e ffiSJodo. 

Second Sunday after Epiphany. 

Then spake Jesus again unto them, saying, I am the Light of the 
world : he that followeth Me shall not walk in darkness, but shall 
have the light of life. — Jno. 8:12. 

" HE Scriptures tell us that there was once 
a time, when this world, now so full of 
beauty, order, and pleasantness, was but 
a huge mass of confused matter, wrapped 
in impenetrable darkness. It had no form, no 
order, no beauty. It was chaos. But a home for 
immortal beings was to be constructed out of it. 
It was to become a garden of God. It was to be 
filled with the children of joy and happiness. Its 
deformity was to be reduced to form, its disorder 
melted into shape, its darkness transformed into 
light, its death brought into life. And for this 
the Almighty spoke, and the grandest of gifts 
was the result. Darkness heard, and vanished. 
Death heard, and hasted away. Disorder heard, 
and began to shine with beauty. "God said, 
Let there be light, and there zvas tight." 

Humanity, like the world in its rudimental 
ugliness and disorder, needed a like putting forth 
upon it of Almighty power. All its order was 

83 



84 THE LIGHT OF THE WORLD. 

disorder; all its harmony, disharmony; all its 
light, darkness ; all its life, death. If anything 
blessed was ever to come of it ; if that moral 
chaos was ever to be lit with order, beauty, and 
good ; there needed to be another going forth of 
God's potent word, — another "Let there be light" 
to effect it. And that new word for this new 
creation is ' ' THE word ' ' which was made flesh, 
and dwelt among men, whose glory men saw, and 
whose blessed life our souls have felt. As light 
is the utterance of God in the natural world, so 
is Christ in the sphere of the spiritual. 

The purest and most untarnishable thing in the 
world is light. Snow is pure, ice is pure, water 
is pure, air is pure ; but either of them will admit 
of defilement, and may be marred, polluted, and 
made the instrument of pollution. It is not so 
with light. Man's hand cannot soil it. No cor- 
ruption can infect it, or cleave to it. Nothing 
can defile its rays, or attach pollution to its beams. 
And such is Christ. All creatures have shown 
themselves liable to sin and moral taint ; but 
Christ passed through a world of sin, and the 
hell of its punishment, as a sunbeam through a 
lazarhouse, and came forth as pure and blessed as 
He sprang from God himself. He took on him 
sin's form, that He might endure sin's due ; but 
its stain He never knew. In Bethlehem's manger 
He was the Holy Child ; and to heaven He re- 
turned the spotless Lamb of God. He lived a 
human life, tried by all its cares and sorrows, 
oppressed with all its necessities and temptations, 



SECOND SUNDAY AFTER EPIPHANY. 85 

grew up among its corrupt children, associated 
with its erring population, encountered its subtle 
passions, suffered its coarseness, its rebuffs, and 
its villainies, and died a martyr to His efforts to 
reform its defections ; but in all this "He did no 
sin\ neither was guile found in His mouth." He 
was pure, for He is Light. 

Light is also as bright as it is pure. Things 
are bright in proportion as they are full of light. 
The day is bright when no clouds shut out the 
sun. The prospect is bright when illumined by 
the greatest number of rays. The hope is bright 
which is freest from gloomy forebodings and fullest 
of the light of promise. And such is Christ. He 
is brightness, — "The brightness of the Father's 
glory." The brightness of every Divine perfec- 
tion. And His office is to dispense light. That 
is the brightest time in the soul when there is 
most of Christ in it. That is the brightest page 
on which most of Christ is found. That is the 
brightest sermon in which most of Christ is 
heard. That is the brightest life in which most 
of Christ is seen. That is the brightest world in 
which Christ is most fully received. And that 
heart, that church, that world, is but lead and 
darkness where Christ is not. 

Light likewise is free. It comes without cost, 
and it comes ungrudgingly. Though the first 
dawn of day be feeble, its first rays dim, and its 
first presence seen only upon the highest summits; 
those beams increase in distinctness ; the ruddy 
glow deepens into crimson and gold ; and pres- 



86 THE LIGHT OF THE WORLD. 

ently the heavens are aglow with its brightness, 
and the earth is flooded with its splendors. No 
poverty is so great as to debar from its blessings. 
It gilds the halls of the great and the huts of the 
humble, and all alike without money and with- 
out price. Nor is there an open crevice in all the 
wide world into which it is unwilling to enter, 
or where it fails to throw in its heaven-lit smiles. 
It is free. And so is Christ. The Gospel day 
opened gradually as man could bear its light. 
Only some of the more exalted of the race caught 
its first morning beams. But it has since diffused 
itself into every nook of the world, and now 
struggles for entrance into every heart' in every 
nation. Christ is offered now as freely to Gentile 
as Jew. He is the Saviour of the poor as well as 
of the rich, and on the same terms of free grace 
to each and all willing to accept Him. He is the 
true Light, ready to lighten every man that cometh 
into the world. 

It also appertains to the nature of light to be all- 
revealing. Darkness obscures the vision. Where 
darkness prevails perception is limited. A pit 
may gape at our feet ; a murderer may be waiting 
in our path ; a dagger may be aimed at our heart ; 
each touch may be a stain and each step defile- 
ment ; but darkness prevents our knowing it. 
Only when daylight comes can we see and know 
the truth. 

And Christ is the great Revealer. By Him we 
come to know God and our true selves. By Him 
we learn who and where we are, what our needs 



SECOND SUNDAY AFTER EPIPHANY. 8? 

are, and how to relieve them. One of the hardest 
things in the world is to make people believe that 
they are guilty and lost beings. The reason is, 
they are in the dark. They need the light to 
show them themselves. And that light is Christ. 
Only let a man compare himself with Jesus, and 
try himself- in the light of Christ's life and/teach- 
ings, and it will not be long till he sees that self 
of his to be a mere mass of guilt, that world of his 
love a monster, whose very embrace is filth and 
whose cup of joy is death. 

Light is self-revealing. It shows itself. And 
so is Christ. No one can contemplate Him with- 
out being impressed with His great glory. His 
person, His cross, His love, His blood, His word, 
and everything concerning Him, have depths of 
preciousness which are manifest to those who 
draw near to Him, and enter into close com- 
munion with Him. It is when we walk with 
Him in the way, and sit down with Him to meat, 
and hear Him lay open to us the Scriptures, that 
His excellences appear as beauties in the sunlight. 

Light is lifegiving. The world is dead without 
light. Where the sun rarely shines there is bar- 
ren dreariness. Perpetual winter, or perpetual 
darkness, is perpetual desolation* It is the warm- 
ing light of spring that starts the dormant germs, 
swells the buds, and clothes the vineyard, the 
field, and the wood with life, fragrance, luxuri- 
ance, and plenty. So is Christ. Where He is 
not, there is spiritual barrenness. But when His 
beams shine in upon the soul, the seeds of virtue 



85 THE LIGHT OF THE WORLD. 

put forth, and the tree of faith lifts up its starry 
bloom, and the fruits and flowers of love and 
grace fill the face of heaven with praise. 

Is it your desire then, dear friends, to enjoy that 
light? Throw open your heart, and it is yours. 
Open to it, and it will flow in, as water through 
the lifted gate. You need waste no time in gath- 
ering up the wherewithal to purchase it. All 
your worth is nothing. All your merit is only 
demerit. Your very best is mixed with sin. Only 
plead misery and take mercy. Bewail darkness 
and accept light. Cast away your earthy tapers 
and take to the sun of righteousness. Wait on 
God, and the Dayspring of Salvation will visit 
you with joyous light. 

Many false lights have been kindled on these 
shores of time, — many which lure to rocks, and 
quicksands, and whirlpools of destruction. Vain 
meteors glare from many pulpits, and in many 
books, and on many platforms. And many are 
being led into the bogs and abysses of error and 
darkness. But, as there is but one sun in the 
firmament, so there is but one Christ in the Bible, 
— but one true lamp of life. Nor need any one 
be without that light, if willing to accept and 
possess it. No one is condemned because there 
is no light ; the condemnation is this, that light 
is come into the world, and men love darkness 
rather than light. People fail of true light be- 
cause they avoid it, and dislike it, and are not 
willing to suffer the rebukes which it brings upon 
their darling sins and ignorances. Put away sin, 



SECOND SUNDAY AFTER EPIPHANY. 89 

crucify evil lusts, turn away from beholding van- 
ity, look to Jesus, and you will find the light 
which bringeth salvation. 

Some of you, dear friends, have found that 
light, and find it sweet and pleasant. Your light 
has come. The Daystar from on high hath visited 
you, and poured in His blessed rays upon your 
souls. Be careful then to walk in that light. 
Keep to it until, like Moses on the mount, you 
become luminous from it. Drink it in, and reflect 
it, that others seeing your good works may glorify 
the Father in heaven. So shall you be light in 
the Lord, and Christ shall be your everlasting 
tight 

Walk in the light ! So shalt thou know- 
That fellowship of love, 

His Spirit only can bestow, 
Who reigns in light above. 

Walk in the light ! and sin, abhorred, 

Shall ne'er defile again ; 
The blood of Jesus Christ thy Lord 

Shall cleanse from every stain. 

Walk in the light ! and thou shalt find 

Thy heart made truly His, 
Who dwells in cloudless light enshrined, 

In whom no darkness is. 



St J»atMlous ISdfcber. 

Third Sunday after Epiphany. 




When Jesus heard it, He marvelled, and said unto them that fol- 
lowed, Verily, I say unto you, I have not found so great faith, no, 
not in Israel. — Matt. 8 : io. 

HAITH is the great thing in practical 
Christianity. The Scriptures everywhere 
assign it a most exalted place. We are 
justified by faith. "Without faith it is 
impossible to please God." And as our eternal 
salvation depends on our faith, all the doings and 
appointments of the Saviour with reference to 
mankind look to the creation and development 
of it. 

The text stands in connection with a case in 
which Jesus found faith so great as to command 
His special admiration. It is said that He " mar- 
velled" at it. This does not mean that it took 
Him by surprise, or that it came upon Him as an 
astounding wonder ; for He well knew what was 
in man. And whatever of the marvellous or the 
uncommon there was about it, it was wrought by 
His Spirit. But it was so superior, in a case so 
unpromising, and begotten under so many dis- 
advantages, that He held it up as a marvel unto 



THIRD SUNDAY AFTER EPIPHANY. 9 1 

men, carrying in it a just rebuke to the incredul- 
ity and skepticism of the Jews and of all unbe- 
lievers. 

People often greatly mistake as to what faith is. 
They have a notion that things must be positively 
demonstrated before they can safely be believed. 
Their philosophy is that u seeing is believing." 
But it is a mistaken philosophy. It is not the 
way they act in ordinary things. Faith does not 
rest on demonstration. It is a confident looking 
to an end which is not and cannot yet be a matter 
of demonstration. The man who sows his seed 
for a future harvest believes ; that is, he confi- 
dently expects that by these means the harvest 
will come ; but he has no absolute proof that it 
ever will come. A merchant embarks in business 
believing ; that is, confidently expecting that he 
can make it pay ; but he has no certain guarantee 
that it wilL A traveller takes passage on a ship 
believing ; that is, confidently expecting that it 
will bring him safely to the point he wishes to 
reach ; but he is without demonstration that so it 
will be. In all such cases people adventure on 
probabilities, not upon demonstrated certainties. 
Having considered the nature and possibilities of 
the case and found the balance of probabilities in 
their favor, they have no hesitation in entering 
upon it. They trust that all will turn out as they 
hope ; and this is their faith, which makes real to 
them for the time what is simply a thing of 
expectation. And it is the same in matters of 
Christianity. We must trust for what we cannot 



92 A MARVELLOUS BELIEVER. 

see. We must rest on probabilities and promises. 
To demand and wait for absolute demonstration 
and infallible certainty as a condition of believing, 
is an absurdity, — a contradiction in terms ; for 
what is thus made absolutely sure is knowledge, 
and no longer faith. 

The faith referred to in the text certainly was 
not founded on absolute demonstration. It was 
simply the result of a contemplation of facts, and 
honest reasonings from those facts, begetting in 
the man the strong persuasion on which he acted, 
and which he so splendidly expressed. And so it 
is in every case. 

Let us consider, then, wherein lay the greatness 
of this man's faith, and how it worked. 

First of all, it was great in view of the disad- 
vantages under which it was formed. The man 
was a Gentile, a heathen. He had been brought 
up amid the darkness and falsities of paganism. 
All his early impressions were very unfavorable 
to correct religious belief. Much of his early 
education, and of his national and family influ- 
ence, he had to overcome, as well as the prevail- 
ing contempt in which the proud Romans held 
the Jews. 

Moreover, he was a soldier, a captain of the 
Roman army stationed at Capernaum to keep the 
restless Jews in order. The military profession 
can hardly be regarded as favorable to godliness. 
It is an intensely worldly and self-consequential 
profession, beset with peculiar temptations to 
recklessness, profanity, dissoluteness, sensuality, 



THIRD SUNDAY AFTER EPIPHANY. 93 

and vainglory. It is in general animated by a 
spirit quite alien to the virtues that belong to a 
devout Christian. 

But with all these hindrances and disadvan- 
tages, this man became a thorough believer, a 
proselyte to the Jewish faith, and thence an hon- 
ored confessor of the power and glory of Christ. 

Some are disposed to think themselves excus- 
able from all attention to matters of religion be- 
cause of their unfavorable surroundings. But 
they, dishonor themselves and dishonor God by 
such a plea. Where the light of the Gospel shines 
there is no situation in this world in which God 
and His Christ may not be remembered, honored, 
and believed in, even to the saving of the soul. 
People belie the truth to their own hurt when 
they allow themselves any other conclusion. They 
may charge their ungodliness and pray erl ess in- 
difference upon their peculiar circumstances, but 
the real fault of it lies in their own breasts. Had 
they the will, the desire, the earnestness, no ex- 
ternal surroundings could hinder them. Nay, the 
greater the antagonisms, the greater the triumph. 
The giant saints of old, such as Moses, Elijah, 
and Daniel, were not hothouse nurslings ; and all 
the greater was this heathen soldier's faith, be- 
cause it came and grew in spite of pagan prepos- 
sessions, and the snares and ambitions* that beset 
military life. 

The faith of this man was great also in contrast 
with that of the Jews. Of them it was expected 
that they would accept and welcome the Christ. 



94 A MARVELLOUS BELIEVER. < 

They had been brought up and trained to that 
end. Their whole education, and the spirit of 
their nation from the beginning, ran in this direc- 
tion. Their advantages were the most favorable 
on earth. But when the Messiah came they were 
among the slowest to believe. They had every- 
thing to convince and persuade them. They 
demanded miracles, and He gave them in abun- 
dance. They called for authority, and He quoted 
to them the testimony of Moses and the prophets, 
and of John the Baptist, whom they knew and 
honored. There came a voice from heaven at 
His Baptism declaring Him the beloved Son of 
the Eternal Father. And even the demons let go 
their holds on men and ran howling from His 
presence, and in their terror declared Him the 
Son of the living God. But the Jewish rulers 
explained it all away, and there were few to credit 
His claims. And to their shame and condemna- 
tion this Gentile, this heathen soldier, believed 
and was blessed. 

Great also was his faith, in the manner in which 
he reasoned it out. His own unfavorable profes- 
sion furnished the foundation for his argument. 
He was a man under authority, and he could do 
no otherwise than obey the orders of those above 
him. But he also had soldiers under him, who 
were obliged to do his bidding. And this was the 
groundwork of a strain of reasoning more forcible, 
more affecting, more sublime, than imagination 
had ever conceived, or heart felt, or tongue ex- 
pressed. Jesus was to his view the mighty and 



THIRD SUNDAY AFTER EPIPHANY. 95 

invincible Caesar in the realm of spiritual and heal- 
ing forces, who needed only to speak and it was 
done, or to command and it would be as He said. 
Here was faith in its grandest conceptions, such 
as Jesus had not found even in Israel. 

There is a faith, very orthodox and exalted in 
its conceptions, yet very inert and feeble in its 
effects upon the heart and life. The Scriptures 
call it a dead faith. It may be theoretically true, 
but has nothing practical to answer to it. The 
faith of this centurion was not of that sort. It 
was with him a living, active, and influential prin- 
ciple. It affected his whole nature, spirit, and 
conduct. It was a living faith. 

It made him humane and kindhearted, as shown 
in his tender regard for his slave. Roman mas- 
ters were sometimes gentle, but mostly harsh, 
severe, and barbaric toward those in such rela- 
tions ; but this man had a heart to feel for his 
suffering fellow-man although a slave, and to do 
all he could to relieve his sufferings and save his 
life. And so, though we speak with the tongues 
of men and angels, and have the gift of prophecy, 
and understand all mysteries and all knowledge, 
and have faith even to remove mountains, and 
have not charity, all our Christianity is defective, 
and all our religion is mere emptiness. 

This man's faith made him active and generous 
toward the cause of true religion. He respected 
and favored the Jews because they worshipped the 
true and living God ; and he gave decisive and 
magnificent proof of this in building them a syn- 



96 A MARVELLOUS BELIEVER., 

agogue. He realized the value and importance 
of public worship, and of fitting accommodations 
for it ; and he voluntarily gave plentifully and 
ungrudgingly of his private means to that end. 
And wherever living faith exists, there will needs 
be deep practical interest in the maintenance of 
the sanctuary and the support of divine service. 
To neglect that is to discount the whole cause we 
profess to honor, and our faith is not yet what it 
needs to become a living reality. 

And still another feature developed in this man 
as the direct fruit of his faith in Christ was his 
remarkable humility. This he showed in the 
manner of his solicitation of the Saviour's inter- 
position in behalf of his suffering servant. He 
was a Roman military officer, in command of the 
place ; and yet with what modesty, diffidence, 
and reverent fear of offending, did he apply to 
Jesus! Twice he sent messengers, made up of 
the highest Jewish officials, deeming himself un- 
worthy to approach in person one so high and 
holy as Jesus. And when the Saviour was on 
His way to the man's home he met Him with 
entreaties not to trouble himself further, but to 
speak the word only, as he, a soldier and an alien, 
was not worthy to have Him come under his 
roof. Nor is it possible for us to have true faith 
in Christ without feeling our unworthiness, or 
without being deeply humbled in His presence, 
by reason of the vast distance which our sins 
have interposed between us and His sublime holi- 
ness. A true believer is humble and modest. 



THIRD SUNDAY AFTER EPIPHANY. 97 

And in these expressions, outworkings, and 
fruits of this man's faith, we get a still deeper 
insight into the greatness of what the Saviour 
so highly commended and what is so necessary 
for us. 

And now a few observations on the general 
subject. 

The first that strikes me is the pungent reproof 
and rebuke which the case of this Centurion 
brings to modern unbelievers. He came to hon- 
ored faith in Jesus under very limited opportuni- 
ties and against very serious disadvantages. And 
if there was ground for wonder at his faith, how 
much greater the ground for surprise at the un- 
faith of those who, after the fulfilment of so much 
that was foretold, the revolutionary and new creat- 
ing power of the Saviour's" life, death, and resur- 
rection, — after all the wonderful manifestations of 
His gifts, — and after the glory the centuries have 
woven around His Name, the progress of His 
Church, the dethronement of paganism, the con- 
version of the Caesars, and the common sentiment 
of the most enlightened people on earth, — still 
doubt, and hesitate, and take upon themselves to 
reject and confute what the toils of Apostles and 
martyrs, and the experiences of eighteen hundred 
years, have so universally and divinely planted 
and authenticated! If the queen of the south is 
to rise up in the judgment with the men of that 
generation, and condemn them, because she came 
from the uttermost parts of the earth to hear 
the wisdom of Solomon, while they despised and 



98 A MARVELLOUS BELIEVER. 

rejected the Greater than Solomon ; will not this 
Roman soldier rise up in condemnation of the 
people of our day, who have a thousandfold better 
chances than he, and yet never cast a believing 
thought to the blessed Christ, or at all apply to 
Him as their Saviour and hope? Ho, ye neglec- 
tors of your sick and dying souls, whither will ye 
look for help, with Jesus spurned and His Salva- 
tion trampled under foot ? 

But there is a more cheerful inference from the 
faith of this Centurion. It is an inference formu- 
lated by the Saviour himself. If this man, against 
so many disadvantages, could rise to faith so ex- 
alted, why may not many others in similar cir- 
cumstance? Yes, this case shows there may be 
many consistent believers where we would not 
expect to find them ? Hence the Master's decla- 
ration : "I say unto you, That many shall come 
from the east and west, and shall sit down with 
Abraham, and Isaac, and Jacob, in the kingdom 
of heaven," while those from whom everything 
was to be hoped, even the very children of the 
kingdom, fail altogether. We must not judge 
outsiders too harshly, nor condemn the heathen 
and soldiers too indiscriminately ; for, with all 
their unfavorable surroundings, they may turn 
out better than ourselves. 

However, the great central lesson for us all is, 
to make diligent use of our opportunities ; to em- 
brace the Christ as He comes to us ; to take Him 
as our Helper and glorious Lord ; to look to Him 
in our need ; to trust implicitly to His Word ; 



THIRD SUNDAY AFTER EPIPHANY. 99 

and humbly to submit ourselves to Him as the 
great and merciful spiritual Caesar, whom none 
can neglect nor disobey without forfeit of all that 
is most precious to the soul, whether for this 
world, or that which is to come. 



&¥ jfrigfjtenetr tJagasers* 

Fourth Sunday after Epiphany. 




And He said unto them, Why are ye fearful, O ye of little faith? — 
Matt. 8 : 26. 

HE Speaker here referred to was Christ. 
The place was on board a boat on the 
inland sea of Galilee. The occasion 
was the alarm and outcries of the dis- 
ciples in the midst of a terrific storm. The whole 
scene was one of impressive sublimity, beautifully 
described by the Evangelist in a few simple sen- 
tences, and full of suggestive significance. 

That sea is a picture of this world. Those 
afloat upon it represent the voyage of life. And 
that storm symbolizes the adversities and troubles 
often encountered in this voyage. 

I. It appears, then, first of all, that the follow- 
ing of Christ sometimes brings into very trying 
scenes. He went aboard this boat, and took His 
disciples with Him into the storm. Christianity 
does not exempt from trials in this world. The 
following of Jesus may save from many a sorrow, 
but there are others into which it leads. This 
was specially true of the first Christians. 

Earthly life is like that Tiberian lake, some- 
100 



FOURTH SUNDAY AFTER EPIPHANY. IOI 

times calm aiid beautiful, but frequently thrown 
into violent commotion, often lashed with furious 
tempests. And our way lies through that lake. 
The Saviour himself said, "In the world ye shall 
have tribulation;" and that word has held true 
in every age. If any one expects to reach the 
happy land without encountering storms and trou- 
bles of one sort or another, he will be greatly 
disappointed. 

But all such experiences have in them a good 
and beneficent purpose, or the Saviour would not 
lead His followers into them. They are not acci- 
dental. They belong to a divine system so or- 
dered as to make u all things work together for 
good to them that love .God. ' ' This storm on 
Genessaret was not unforeseen by the Saviour, 
but was meant to give and impress lessons which 
could not otherwise be so well taught. 

These disciples needed to be made more sensible 
of their own helplessness and their dependence 
on their Lord. They needed to be more deeply 
convinced of His abundant power and sufficiency 
in every emergency. He had wrought many 
great and wonderful things on land ; but there 
they had some chance for helping themselves. 
It remained for Him to show the greatness of His 
power over the winds and the sea, where they 
had no recourse but in his almightiness. And 
some beneficent results are contemplated in all 
the troubles and afflictions of the saints. Hence 
we are exhorted not to think it strange that fiery 
trials come, as though they were something quite 



102 THE FRIGHTENED VOYAGERS. 

out of the ordinary range of things ; but to look 
upon them as from God, meant to try, purify, 
develop, and bless us, and to perfect us in the 
likeness of our Lord. 

When the farmer sifts his wheat, it is not to 
damage it, but to separate it from intermixtures 
which depreciate its worth. When the black- 
smith thrusts the piece of steel into the hot fires, 
it is not to harm or destroy it, but to soften it to 
answer better to his purposes and its own exalta- 
tion. And for similar reasons Jesus leads His 
people into storms and troubles. The cross is the 
way to the crown ; and our greater glory in the 
end stands connected with these earthly trials. 

II. In the next place, it is to be noted that 
Christ was with these people in the ship. Poor, 
unthinking mortals are apt to overlook this in 
their troubles. When things are all smooth before 
them they take it as a matter of course ; but 
when afflictions and dangers are upon them they 
fear and despair as if they had no Saviour, no 
God. They do not realize that Jesus is with 
them in the ship, and so miss the consolation they 
might otherwise have. 

The great Roman Emperor was once in a dread- 
ful storm at sea. The appearances were that all 
would be lost. The captain of the vessel was full 
of alarm and ready to despair. But the Emperor 
said to him, "Why do you fear for the ship? 
Know you not that it carries Caesar?" But 
mightier and greater than all the Caesars is Jesus, 
who is with His people amid whatever storms 



FOURTH SUNDAY AFTER EPIPHANY. IO3 

may come ; nor can fatal disaster happen while 
He is with them in the ship. 

But though Jesus was with these people, ' ' He 
was asleep." He knew what was coming, but 
He was quite composed and serene in view of it. 
He knew what the distress and terror of His disci- 
ples would be, but He slept, — slept while the waves 
were dashing over the ship and the sea was ready to 
engulf them. Though He is the omnific Saviour, 
and is never oblivious touching the wants and 
dangers of His people, He is not careful to exempt 
them from troubles, nor to help them out of them 
till the purpose of them has been fully tested. 
Sometimes He gives over His people to the most 
unequal conflicts, and to extremities that might 
seem to prove that He cared not for them. It 
was so with Job. It was so with Israel in Egypt. 
It was so with David under the persecutions of 
Saul. It was so with John the Baptist pining in 
Herod's prison. And it is so with many suffering 
saints in all lands to this day. But still, though 
thus seemingly regardless of their distresses, He 
is with them in the ship, so that they cannot sink 
or perish without His sinking and perishing with 
them. Hence His Word : "Why are ye fearful, 
O ye of little faith?" 

III. Still further, these occurrences were meant 
to teach, that, however great the storms and trou- 
bles that may come upon Christ's followers, glori- 
ous deliverance is at hand. He who commands 
the winds and the sea, though asleep, is within 
call, and ready to help in every time of need. He 



104 THE FRIGHTENED VOYAGERS. 

lets things go on to try our patience and our faith, 
to prove to us our utter helplessness without Him, 
and to turn our eyes, and prayers, and despairing 
cries to Him. 

But, in the last distressing hour, 
He's sure to show His saving power. 
The thickest danger is the place 
Where He displays His saving grace. 

And when these alarmed ' c disciples came to Him, 
and awoke Him, saying, Lord, save us; we perish. 
He arose, and rebuked the winds and the sea; and 
there was a great calm." Their "little faith" 
still served to turn them to their Lord for succor, 
and their cries were not disregarded. He reproved 
them for fearing the ship would sink with Him in 
it, but not for breaking in upon His repose. 
A distinguished preacher, commenting upon the 
scene, exclaims : "I see Him opening His eyes, — 
but not with surprise. Nothing astonished him. 
I see Him going upon deck, — not in haste. Haste 
is from confusion. He was never in haste. I see 
Him facing the storm, and speaking to it as a 
living thing that could hear Him. He rebuked 
the winds and the sea. — But what said He? — The 
wild elements understood, and they obeyed. And 
there was a great calm." It was a wonderful 
miracle, — a miracle of deliverance, — that so as- 
tounded those for whom it was wrought, that 
they marvelled, saying, "What manner of man 
is this, that even the winds and the sea obey 
Him?" 



FOURTH SUNDAY AFTER EPIPHANY. 105 

But therein was the demonstration that no 
troubles or adversities of this world are too great 
for Him to control, and that we need never despair 
of His help when we cry to Him as our Saviour. 
It was the picture and pledge of what all suffering 
and praying believers may count on in any ex- 
tremity to which they may be reduced in this 
present evil world. Even where deliverance 
would seem impossible it is at hand in our Sa- 
viour's almightiness, if only we prayerfully and 
obediently address ourselves to Him. 

IV. Furthermore, it is here shown and empha- 
sized that the hand to lay hold on Christ's help 
in trouble is faith. Weak and little as was the 
faith of these disciples, it brought them deliver- 
ance. It turned them to Christ as their only 
Helper. It caused them to bring their trouble to 
Him, and it animated their cries for His interfer- 
ence to save them. They had no idea how that 
deliverance was to come ; but their faith was in 
Christ, and to Him they looked as their only 
hope, if perchance He could do something for 
them. They were sure they would perish unless 
He could help ; and it brought them salvation. 
And if " little faith" could accomplish so much, 
what may not a strong and vigorous faith secure ? 

Here then is our recourse in all straights and 
necessities. In Jesus is our strength and hope. 
He is always with His people even unto the end 
of the world. He has covenanted never to leave 
nor forsake them. He is as near, if not nearer, in 
their sorrows and trials than in their hours of joy 



106 THE FRIGHTENED VOYAGERS. 

and peace. His ear is not heavy that it cannot 
hear, nor His arm shortened that He cannot save. 
But our eyes must be toward Him as our only 
help. We must believe that He is able and will- 
ing to do for us according to our need, and to 
bring us safely through. We must confide in His 
power, His goodness, and His superintending care. 
And for this His invitations, promises, and 
pledges are ample. He has given proof enough 
that He is a Saviour, and a great one, able and 
ready to save unto the uttermost all that come 
unto God by Him. And why then, in any case, 
should we doubt or despair? All we need is 
faith, — faith that lays hold on Jehovah's strength, 
in patient assurance that He will make all right 
in the end. 

Triumphant faith ! 
She can pluck mountains from their rooted thrones, 
And hurl them into ocean ; and from pain, 
And prisons, and contempt. — extort the palm 
Of everlasting triumph. 

Wherever faith is there is power, there is vic- 
tory, there is salvation. Be the difficulty, the 
trial, the sorrow, the trouble what it may, where 
there is faith to lay hold on Jesus, to rest believ- 
ingly on Him, it makes sufferings light, dulls the 
edge of pain, and swallows up despair in the as- 
surance of glad deliverance in the end. Hence 
the word : u Be not afraid ; only believe. " " Why 
are ye fearful, O ye of little faith?" 

A great and miraculous calm was wrought by 
Christ for these tried and despairing disciples 



FOURTH SUNDAY AFTER EPIPHANY. \OJ 

when they looked to Him in their distress. And 
what He did for them on Galilee He will do in 
His own good time for all His storm-tossed people 
who in like manner look to and confide in Him. 
This whole transaction prophesies the ultimate 
outcome of the work of the Christ. One word ex- 
presses it ; and that word is Peace. 

To all fearful and distressed believers, Peace. 
To disturbed and troubled nature, Peace. To 
growing and suffering creation, Peace. Yes, from 
Jesus of Nazareth there is yet to go forth upon all 
disastrous winds and waves of earth a new com- 
mand, to silence their afflictive commotions, to 
calm their fierceness, to tame down their wild 
fury, and to spread over all this disturbed and tur- 
bulent scene of things u a great calm" amid 
which He shall stand out in the glory of divine 
Lordship, while His rescued and delivered people 
kneel around Him in adoring wonder, as blissful 
as it is sublime. 

The great matter is to have Jesus with us in 
our voyage over this troubled sea. Without Him 
no ship can outweather the storms, or land us 
safely on the further shore. We may think we 
can make it in our own strength and wisdom; but 
we soon shall find how helpless we are against ab- 
solute despair. 

But, to have Jesus with us in the voyage, we 
must enter the ship wherein He is embarked. 
That ship is the old ship of Zion. It is not an 
imposing craft, but it is the only one that can 
bear us in safety to the better land. 



108 THE FRIGHTENED VOYAGERS. 

These are days in which many undertake to 
make crafts of their own, and venture upon them 
where no Jesus is. But they know not the 
strength of the storms that await them, and will 
find out too late what miscalculations they have 
made. 

God help us to be wise, and to understand this, 
to consider wherein our salvation lies ! 



Fifth Sunday after Epiphany. 




Take my yoke upon you, and learn of Me ; for I am meek and 
lowly in heart : and ye shall find rest unto your souls. For My yoke 
is easy, and My burden is light. — Matt, ii : 29, 30. 

'UR blessed Saviour had just uttered that 
sublime and touching invitation, ' ' Come 
unto Me, all ye that labor and are heavy 
laden, and I will give you rest;" — an 
invitation which still stands open to all the bur- 
dened and sorrowing children of men. Let the 
trouble be what it may, there is relief for it in 
Jesus, and His offer is to help and comfort all who 
rightly come to Him. 

But, in proposing to accept His gracious invita- 
tion it is important for us to understand what it 
involves. In seeking unto Christ as our Helper, 
there must needs be a willing submission of our- 
selves to His will and way ; — a taking upon us of 
His yoke. He has his own manner of dispensing 
His mercies. They can be had for the taking, but 
not as we may fancy, prescribe, or dictate. He is 
an adequate resort in all trouble and unrest, but 
He has His own manner of imparting the bless- 
ing, and we must defer to Him, trust Him, and 
wait His time. 

109 



110 THE GOSPEL YOKE. 

To come to Christ means the putting of our- 
selves in the hands and care of Christ, accepting 
Him as our Lord and Guide, and giving ourselves 
to walk, and serve, and trust, as He may direct 
and order. 

Nor are we to suppose that there is nothing 
burdensome in it. Jesus here speaks of both a 
' ' yoke, ' ' and a ( ' burden, ' ' which those who come 
to Him are to take up, and bear. The language 
is figurative, but very significant. 

The "yoke" tells of restraint upon natural 
freedom, likes, and pleasures, and of service to 
be rendered. Harnessed oxen are not left to go 
and do as they please, but must move, and use 
their powers, as the Master wills ; and the same 
holds good in our being joined to Christ. 

And so the " burden " tells of something to be 
borne, — some weight to be carried, — some sort of 
load laid upon the shoulders. Naturally, there is 
much to be left, which it is not always easy to 
sacrifice. A new course of life is to be followed, 
which is not always what we would fancy. There 
is a profession to be made, much native selfish- 
ness and pride to be cast off, and a new Master to 
be served. And it is not always easy to abandon 
old ways, to vanquish heart-unbelief, to endure 
the taunts and ridicule of the despisers of religion, 
and to keep up genuine zeal and fidelity in Chris- 
tian duty. 

There is then something of a yoke and burden 
in the case. The Scriptures employ various fig- 
ures to describe it, all of which, when analyzed, 



FIFTH SUNDAY AFTER EPIPHANY. Ill 

imply the same thing. It is called a wrestle, — a 
race, — a warfare, — calling for pluck, watchful- 
ness, training, and energy, even to the giving 
up of body, life, and limb, when the question is 
whether we are to be true to our Lord or not. 

But while Christianity brings under the yoke, 
and has its peculiar burden, the Saviour here 
assures us that His yoke is "easy," and His 
burden "light." Many would not so take it. 
Considered with respect to worldly interests, or 
apart from everything else, the undertaking looks 
formidable enough, — so formidable that multi- 
tudes cannot be persuaded to adventure beyond a 
few outside rudiments. Depraved, selfish, proud, 
and vainglorious human, nature is not so ready to 
surrender its self-consequence and return to the 
condition of childhood to begin life over again. 
And yet, here are the plain words of Christ him- 
self, that His yoke is easy, and His burden is 
light. How then is this to be understood. 

Well, Christ's yoke is easy, as compared with 
the yoke which the Pharisees' laid upon people's 
necks. Think of the taxes of one-tenth of the 
increase of everything, — of the costly offerings 
required at almost every turn or event of life, — 
of the laborious and expensive triennial visita- 
tions to Jerusalem to keep the great feasts, — of 
the endless round of legalistic observances, gifts, 
and sacrifices, which, after all, could not justify 
him that did the service. All this made up a 
yoke and a burden which Peter says was more 
than man could bear. But, from all this, Christ 



112 THE GOSPEL YOKE. 

hath set us free. These oppressive taxes, painful 
rites, expensive offerings, and vexatious laws, are 
all done away in Christianity. The law of our 
dispensation is, u Let no man judge you in meat, 
or in drink, or in respect of an holyday, or of the 
new moon, or of the Sabbaths," which were but 
shadows of the better things that have now come. 
And in comparison with that slavery to shadowy 
ceremonies, the yoke of Christ is easy and His 
burden light. Here are only a few simple and 
easy rites, which oppress no one. Here are sub- 
stantial and eternal benefits to be enjoyed without 
money and without price. And while there is 
call for grateful acknowledgment and thank-offer- 
ing, it is all left to men's freewill, and the im- 
pulses of the loving Christian heart, to apportion 
and do. 

So Christ's yoke is easy compared with the 
yoke and burden of sin. The way of the trans- 
gressor is hard. It may be flattering, and agree- 
able at the start. But for the wayward and god- 
less the evil day will come. The triumphing of 
the wicked is short. Conscience, long suppressed 
and trampled, will assert itself at the last, biting 
like a serpent and stinging like an adder. 

Nor is any mere worldling as happy as he seems. 
If our gay and godless people would speak out the 
truth, they would be compelled to say with Solo- 
mon, that "all is vanity and vexation of spirit." 
And what sad wrecks of homes, and happiness, 
and life itself, are constantly overtaking those 
who give loose to their lusts and carnal ambition 



FIFTH SUNDAY AFTER EPIPHANY. II3 

at the expense of purity, honesty, and righteous- 
ness ! What throes of incurable remorse ultimately 
come to those who thus sell themselves to the 
devil ! How do their souls agonize when they 
think of the loving ones they have sent to the 
grave with broken hearts, the ruin they have 
brought upon the confiding and the innocent, the 
dishonor and shame with which they have loaded 
their names, the sorrows and irremediable damage 
brought upon them by their sins ! And when it 
comes to the solemn encounter with death, judg- 
ment, and eternity, how many are turned to utter 
madness by their guilty remembrances, or plunged 
into horrors which they cannot bear ! O how 
often are our hearts made to bleed and melt in 
pity over the mental anguish and inconsolable 
torment of men, who, for a little momentary 
gratification, have yielded to the tempter ! Can 
we look at the facts, and not be compelled to con- 
fess that the yoke of Christ is a paradise by the 
side of such burdens? What Christian has ever 
mourned at the last for having given his life to 
God and righteousness ? When has regret and re- 
morse ever come to him, except for having been 
so slow and poor in the service of his Lord ? 

Easy also is the yoke and light the burden of 
Christianity, as compared with the task of those 
who propose to secure justification and heaven by 
their own works and virtues. To fill out in heart, 
word, and deed all the demands of the law for 
every day and hour of life is what no mere man 
ever has done or ever can do. He who tries it, 



114 THE GOSPEL YOKE. 

even to the utmost of his powers, will find the bed 
too short and the covering quite too narrow. He 
may sometimes persuade himself that he has suc- 
ceeded, as Paul once thought, or that he is in a 
fair way to succeed ; but when he comes to look 
at things as they are, he soon finds rents in his 
garment which he tries in vain to mend. Seeing 
himself in the light of God's truth, his confidence 
must cower and his hopes wilt, as did those of 
Paul, because he has not yet begun to meet what 
is required. What matters it that he has not been 
an atheist, a liar, a thief, a murderer, an adul- 
terer, and is quite free from many black stains that 
are upon some others? If his heart has never 
been given to God, and he has never accepted 
Christ as his Redeemer, he is still under condem- 
nation. The Christian is indeed bound to live 
virtuously, but he never thinks of being saved by 
his works. He has a Saviour who stands for 
him ; and because he has made Christ his refuge 
and hope, there remains for him no more condem- 
nation, notwithstanding his deficiencies and fail- 
ures. In and through the Christ, in whom he 
trusts, his peace is made, and he is not oppressed 
with a work which he cannot accomplish. 

Christ's yoke is easy also, because of the loving 
spirit in which it is accepted and borne. Love is 
never weary in doing and bearing for the object 
in which it delights. What would not a true 
mother sacrifice for the child she loves? And 
when the soul is once filled with adoring admira- 
tion and gratitude for the matchless goodness of 



FIFTH SUNDAY AFTER EPIPHANY. I I 5 

Jesus and His unspeakable sacrifices for its re- 
demption, and considers the exceeding great and 
precious blessings which He has purchased for it 
by His blood, nothing is too hard for it to do and 
bear for Him. To be able to serve such a friend 
and Saviour then becomes a delight, an honor, a 
privilege. Love thrills the heart. Love quickens 
the step. Love inflames the zeal and desire to 
please. Love does away with all sense of hard- 
ship in the service it renders. And where true 
love to Jesus has been begotten in the soul, it is 
glad to confess His Name, and to do and suffer all 
His good and holy will. 

And yet again, His yoke is easy, and His 
burden light, because of His gracious help and 
sympathy. He does not leave us to struggle 
alone in our weakness, trials, and difficulties. He 
knows what it is to bear adversities and suffer- 
ings, and can be touched with the feeling of our 
infirmities. His tender compassion and the com- 
forts of the Holy Ghost are ever with us. His 
eyes are upon us in every perplexity and in every 
moment of want or weakness. He has set up 
for us a throne of grace to which we may come 
with boldness to obtain mercy and grace to help 
in every time of need. And if we do but trust 
Him, He has engaged never to leave nor forsake 
us. Having bought us with his blood, He is most 
anxious to bring us through to share His glory. 
He knows when we become faint and weary, and 
has provided many a meal for us in our pilgrimage 
by which to refresh us in our heavenward journey. 



Il6 THE GOSPEL YOKE. 

When things are dark about us He often causes 
light to spring up, of which we never dreamed. 
What we thought would be impossible to bear we 
do not find half so crushing as we supposed. At 
every point the assurance is of the presence of 
grace sufficient. And with all is the promise of 
a blessed heaven, in which all the suffering, toil, 
and services in this world will have their everlast- 
ing compensation. 

'Tis thus Christ's yoke is easy and His burden 
light. And we have only to take that yoke upon 
us and learn of Him, who is meek and lowly in 
heart, to find the coveted goal of life — even rest 
for our souls. 



Ci)e Christian jBtairium. 

Septuagesima. 




Know ye not that they which run in a race run all, but one receiv- 
eth the prize ? Now they do it to obtain a corruptible crown, but we 
an incorruptible. 1 Cor. 9 : 24, 25. 

" HE Apostle was here writing to a people 
familiar with the Isthmian games, which 
consisted of racing, wrestling, and pugil- 
ism. He had perhaps witnessed some 
of these himself. At any rate, he knew of them, 
and saw in them a striking picture of earthly 
life, particularly of Christian life. And we have 
only to consider them to be impressed with the 
aptness of the figure. 

This world is a stadium, — a race-course, — and 
the great mass of the population is running, strug- 
gling, competing for some prize. With some, to 
their shame, life may be entirely aimless and in- 
different ; but most people have some goal for 
which they are striving. It is not always the 
same thing, but always something which enlists 
their energies and efforts. The racers and com- 
petitors in the Grecian games sought to win a 
certain crown of honor and glory awarded to the 
victor; and so nearly every one is aiming, con- 

117 



Il8 THE CHRISTIAN STADIUM. 

tending, and laboring for some object on which 
the heart is set. It may be gain, — a comfortable 
living, — riches, — place, — office, — honor, — distinc- 
tion in society, — lustful gratification and pleasure, 
— or something else. 

We have only to look abroad upon the world 
around us to see the agitation and tumult of 
human beings striving and contending on the 
stadium of life. And this intense and ever-inten- 
sifying commotion and putting forth of energy 
and strength would be a spectacle of interest to 
heavenly beholders, if the object of it were always 
worthy of beings created in the image of God and 
having an immortal inheritance to gain. 

Unfortunately, such worthiness does not gener- 
ally obtain. Earthly interests, indeed, are not to 
be undervalued or neglected. Too much depends 
upon them to be despised. We must live, and 
we need to exert ourselves for an honest living. 
There is much to be done and cared for respecting 
this world in order to make the best of ourselves 
and of the purposes of life. But this scene of 
tumultuous endeavor, contention, and activity, in 
the great majority of cases, is moved by princi- 
ples, feelings, and hopes limited to this present 
life, and hence in ill accord with what becomes 
beings presently to be transferred to an untried 
eternity. This world's prizes are often mere 
vanity and emptiness ; and the securement of 
them is frequently more of a misfortune than a 
gain ; while the pursuit of them is a sore vexation, 
if not a miserable degradation. At best, the high- 



SEPTUAGESIMA. II9 

est earthly gain is only u a corruptible crown," — 
the possession of a day quickly passed, — a glory 
that must soon disappear forever. And for beings 
made but a little lower than the angels, to devote 
all their highborn faculties and powers to the 
winning of what this world has to give, at the 
sacrifice of the soul and an eternity of blessed- 
ness, is an infatuation ignoble enough to make 
the very angels weep. 

But there is a nobler and worthier race for man 
to run. It is the race which the Gospel of Jesus 
sets before us. Christianity also has its stadium. 
We come to it by our Baptism. We enter upon 
it when we begin to act and live for Christ and 
eternity. We run this race when, with faith and 
hope in Jesus, we steadfastly persevere in Chris- 
tian duty and effort, striving against sin, and 
doing our best to live godly, upright, and useful 
lives. This terminates when the summons from 
on high comes to call us away from earth. We 
win its prize when, by divine grace, we hold out 
faithful until death. And the victor's crown we 
shall receive when our Lord and Judge shall come 
in His glory to give reward unto His saints and 
to all who love His appearing. 

And to the running of this race, as candidates 
for an immortal crown, all are invited ; and to 
earnest and unflagging effort to win in it, all pro- 
fessing Christians are everywhere exhorted. It 
may involve trying and disheartening discipline ; 
it may require many a hard conflict ; and, so far 
as this world is concerned, self-denial and tribula- 



120 THE CHRISTIAN STADIUM. ' 

tion may have to be encountered ; but the word 
of the great Exemplar and Leader is: "Follow 
Me" — " To him that overcometh will I grant to 
sit with Me in My throne, even as I also over- 
came, and am set down with My Father in His 
throne." And hence the apostolic appeal, "Let 
us lay aside every weight, and the sin which doth 
so easily beset us, and let us run with patience 
the race set before us, looking unto Jesus the 
Author and Finisher of our faith ; who for the joy 
that was set before Him endured the cross, despis- 
ing the shame, and is set down at the right hand 
of the throne of God. ' ' 

Have we, then, entered upon this race? We 
are all in the common race of life, and must some- 
how run it, whether we will or no. But have 
we entered upon the Christian race, where alone 
the immortal crown is to be won? If not, the 
greatest and most momentous purpose of our ex- 
istence is as yet untouched. And if we have 
entered the lists to run this race, we have under- 
taken what demands all the strength of will and 
vigor of action we can in any way command. It 
requires earnestness and determination to be an 
approved and victorious Christian, and a perse- 
verance which knows no surrender. The stadium 
is lined with wrecks of people who entered with 
joyous hearts and glad hopes, and some who ran 
well for a season, but when trial came, and they 
were obliged to fight and agonize to maintain 
themselves, they became weary and faint in their 
minds, dropped out of the ranks, and so perished 



SEPTUAGESIMA. 121 

by the way. The Christian race is also a life- 
face ; and only those who hold on, steadfast unto 
the end, can win the crown. 

And yet, alas! the vast majority of people are 
far more devoted and persistent in their efforts for 
the perishable and transient things of this world 
than to secure the crown of immortal kings. The 
contestants in the ancient games exerted every 
power in them to win the fading garlands held 
out to the victors ; and yet where substantial and 
eternal honors are at stake men act as if they 
were nothing worth, or would anyway come to 
them without troubling to secure them. 

Look at the devotee of Mammon. Who can 
number his cares and anxieties ? Who can meas- 
ure his fatigues, exposures, and self-denials just 
for wealth ? Nothing is too much for him. No 
failures or dangers hinder him. His days and his 
nights, his health and life, are all freely thrown 
into his schemes and efforts for gold and riches. 
He may think himself a Christian ; but what does 
his Christianity receive in comparison with what 
he gives to greed and avarice ? 

Look at the devotee of ambition. What pains, 
and sacrifices, and toils, and cares, even to the 
compromise of all righteous principles, does he 
bring to the idol of his worship ? What watchful 
caution, — what surrender of dignity, — what press- 
ure of anxiety, — what burden of soul, — is he 
willing to assume, if only he can win the prize on 
which his heart is set ? The securement of the 
favor of God and eternal blessedness would cost 



122 THE CHRISTIAN STADIUM. 

him no greater sacrifices, no severer curb, no 
more earnest exertion ; but his carnal ambition 
commands him, while the claims of God and im- 
mortality are dishonored and put aside. 

Look at the worshipper of lust and pleasure. 
His vices bring upon him inevitable punishments 
even in this present life ; but he bears them all, 
and braves perseverance in filthy ways, while de- 
nouncing Christian life as too burdensome and 
hard. Pursuing amusement, and fashion, and 
frolic in its varied rounds, what labor or expense 
in preparing for them, — what care and impatience 
in waiting for them, — what exhaustion and fatigue 
in acting out his part in them, — what lassitude 
and ennui in recovering from the effects of his 
participation in them, — does he accept and en- 
dure; while the ways of wisdom and salvation are 
rejected as too repulsive, too severe. 

Nay; look where you will; observe in all the 
world the people who are racing and struggling 
for its prizes; and you will see multitudes willing 
and ready to do, sacrifice and endure more, to win 
for themselves destruction, than for God, or Christ, 
the salvation of their souls, or the crown of ever- 
lasting life. Even professed Christians volunteer 
their hundreds for clubs and lodges and worldly 
leagues, while grudging their tens or fives to the 
Church of the living God. 

O the inconsistencies and follies that obtain on 
this momentous matter ! O the subtle witchery 
which the Arch-deceiver has succeeded in throw- 
ing over the children of men! What prize of 



SEPTUAGESIMA. 1 23 

earth can warrant or excuse such absorption and 
expenditure for its attainment, which is so short- 
lived, so unsatisfactory, and when attained must 
so soon be given up? What if some are successful 
enough to win what they so eagerly strive for, 
when they must presently have done with it as 
completely as if they never had had it? Will that 
measure the real worth of life, or be a just com- 
pensation for such lifelong cares, toils, efforts, and 
expenditures, which, by the time we touch it, and 
think ourselves happy in its possession, perishes 
in our hands, or death comes and cuts us off from 
it for ever? Ah me; "What shall it profit a man, 
if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own 
soul?" 

Dear friends, there is nothing in this world that 
pays, blesses, and rewards, like believing, earnest 
and unfaltering service of God and His Christ. 
One who tried it at the greatest cost declares, 
"Godliness is profitable unto all things, having 
promise of the life which now is, and of that 
which is to come." The true Christian man, no 
matter what the earthly condition, is the noblest, 
truest, and happiest man; for he is abundantly 
armed for life and for death; and no reverses or 
surprises can rob him of his spiritual comforts or 
his joyous hopes. 

First of all, he who earnestly and perseveringly 
runs this race is sure to win. It is not so in 
other races. They which run in them, "run all, 
but one receiveth the prize." Many a noble 
Grecian athlete, having done the utmost in his 



124 THE CHRISTIAN STADIUM. 

power to succeed, had to retire discomfited and 
crownless, because some one else was able to outdo 
him. But such a thing can never happen to a 
faithful Christian racer. Here every one may 
win. Many may have the strength to distance us 
in the way ; but the weakest, if they will only 
exert what strength they have, cannot fail. Here 
the child has an equal chance with the adult, the 
woman with the man, the feebly endowed with 
the greatest. 

And the crown in this case is ' ' incorruptible. ' ' 
Those leaves of olive with which the victors in 
the ancient games were crowned soon faded and 
disappeared, and all the honor and glory which 
they expressed. Where are those chaplets or their 
wearers now ? Perished are they all, their names 
forgotten, and nothing of all they ever wore worth 
a farthing to them. But the prize held out to 
those who run the Christian race is an imper- 
ishable crown. It is a crown of life that never 
fades, and whose wearers are never called to lay 
it down. 

Nor is it an unreal crown; for there are no 
mockeries or unrealities in heaven. It is a crown 
that carries with it all that a true crown signi- 
fies. Genuine Christians are princes of the blood. 
They are in their minority now, but destined to a 
glorious coronation, and to rule and reign with 
their blessed Lord in the principalities of eternal 
empire. Through the promises and revelations 
of God I look over into that ' ' world to come, ' ' 
and I see thrones, and they sit upon them, and 



SEPTUAGESIMA. 12$ 

ruling 1 power is given unto them, and they live 
and reign with Christ in resurrection life as ver- 
itable kings of the earth bringing their glory and 
honor into that golden city of which the Lord 
God Almighty and the Lamb are the light. 

O the grandeur and glory of the prize of the 
high calling of God in Christ Jesus! Contem- 
plate it, O ye negligent, weary, and faint-hearted, 
and see and know the worth of a diligent and 
earnest Christian life. Is it any wonder that the 
devout apostle should wish and exhort us all to 
run this race, and so to run it that we may obtain ? 

And shall we not give heed to his encouraging 
admonition ? To neglect the grand opportunity, 
and not to win in this race, is to lose the highest 
good of our being. The great Apostle Paul had 
sacrificed everything earthly to run this race, and 
had made sublime progress in it ; yet he labored 
on in godly fear, lest after all he should be a 
castaway. What then shall be the fate of those 
who refuse to enter these lists, or loiter in the 
way, or think to carry this world with them into 
heaven ? 

Come, O Spirit of the living God, and quicken 
us all to spiritual earnestness, that we may each 
run this race, so as to receive at last the ' ' crown 
of glory that fadeth not away!" 



Hespectful Rearing. 

Sexigesima. 




And they come unto thee as the people cometh, and they sit before 
thee as my people, and they hear thy words, but they will not do 
them. — Ezek. 33 : 31. 

51ZEKIEL was a great preacher. Fancy 
has pictured him as young and slender, 
with extended locks and stooping as if 
under the burden of the Lord. A visible 
fire was in his eye, and an invisible fire seemed to 
burn in his soul and inflame all his nature. A 
ghostly earnestness possessed him ; a wild beauty 
hung around him ; and an air that said he was not 
long for this world added a supernatural impres- 
siveness to his youthful aspect. He moved among 
his people as a saintly apparition, a sun-gilded 
storm in human shape, untouched by the love of 
maidens, unterrified by the countenances of elders, 
undismayed by danger or death, and pursuing his 
high object with an eagerness of purpose which 
nothing could dampen, divert, nor turn. Detained 
in the company of men in flesh and blood, he 
seemed not of them ; and while walking the earth 
the companionship of his soul was with the cheru- 
bim of glory. 



SEXIGESIMA. 12/ 

But the most heavenly, devoted, and earnest of 
preachers do not always have the most satisfac- 
tory congregations. The text gives God's own 
account of the people to whom Ezekiel ministered. 

They did not pass the prophet by in total in- 
difference. He so far arrested their attention that 
they made him the subject of very frequent con- 
versation. They talked of him often and much. 
Ministers of God are apt to be talked about. 
Church-going people are much disposed to pass 
observations on their clergymen, their sermons, 
abilities, and nearly everything relating to them. 
It is natural that they should ; and it is not always 
an unfavorable symptom. They may sometimes 
talk of the preacher as they talk about the weather, 
for want of something else to say ; but often it is 
from real sympathy and interest in him, their 
pleasure in his efforts, their comfort in his minis- 
trations, though once in a while perhaps in the 
way of dissatisfaction, faultfinding, and deprecia- 
tion. In this case, however, we may suppose that 
the talk was more on the favorable than on the 
unfavorable side. The record is that these people 
acknowledged Ezekiel to be a true and worthy 
prophet. There was something also in his oratory 
and efforts which arrested their attention, and set 
them to talking among themselves as they met 
along the walls and passed each other's doors. 
There may have been some unfavorable criticisms 
and comments ; but better those than nothing. 

They also encouraged and invited one another 
to go and hear him. This is not always the ob- 



128 RESPECTFUL HEARING. 

ject and result of people's talk about preachers. 
But whatever these Jews thought of Ezekiel, they 
considered him well worth hearing, and spoke one 
to another, and every one to his brother, saying, 
u Come, I pray you, and hear the word that cometh 
forth from the L,ord. There be many professed 
Christians who have very hard work to get them- 
selves out to hear the preached word. These 
people, however, were not of that sort. They 
were willing and pleased to go hear Bzekiel them- 
selves, and they were enough interested to try to 
bring their brethren and acquaintances also to hear 
him. 

Nor was it only for his peculiarities, his elo- 
quence, and the way he handled himself in his 
ministrations, that they frequented his ministry. 
It was to hear the word of the Lord that came 
forth through him. This was another good indi- 
cation for them. 

They likewise behaved with great religious 
decorum and propriety in their attendance upon 
the prophet's ministry. The record is that they 
came with due orderliness as Christian people; 
that they waited before the prophet the same as 
if they were in all respects the true, devout, and 
believing people of God; and that they took in 
with avidity all that the prophet had to say. 

It is a question whether God's book has a like 
favorable account of those who make up the at- 
tendants upon our modern churches. If you will 
observe the temper and characteristics of those 
assemblies to which the community most throngs, 



SEXIGESIMA. I29 

you will generally find a ranting mountebank in 
the pulpit, and a light-hearted and laughing con- 
gregation in the pews. They come not after the 
manner of God's reverent worshippers. They do 
not sit and hear after the manner of God's people. 
They do not listen to learn the word of the Lord. 
They go most for amusement, — for the wit and 
droll hits of the preacher. In these respects 
Ezekiel's audiences put to shame many of the 
most crowded congregations of our modern so- 
called churches. They came as the most devout 
people came. They listened and heard as God's 
people listened. And they conducted themselves 
in every regard, outwardly at least, as became 
the most reverent and respectful of worshippers. 
There was no levity, no indifference, no drowsi- 
ness, no wishing that the preacher would get done 
and let them off. There was real interest, and 
real desire to hear what God had to say to 
them. They also professed great attachment to 
the prophet. They enjoyed and praised his ser- 
mons. , His utterances were to them "as a very 
lovely song of one that hath a pleasant voice, and 
can play well on an instrument." They held his 
doctrines to be true and magnificent, his elocution 
good, his language beautiful, his manner graceful, 
his illustrations grand and stirring, and every- 
thing as it should be in a prophet of Jehovah. 
All this was very fair and good, and a vast im- 
provement on the average audiences found in our 
sanctuaries. Any one beholding their devoted 
manner, seeing their rapt attention, and hearing 



130 RESPECTFUL HEARING. 

their admiring speeches, might have supposed 
them saints of the very highest order. 

But they were very faulty nevertheless, and in 
the eye of God came very far short, as the text 
clearly affirms. 

There is a great difference between being deeply 
interested in the ministry of a true and talented 
preacher, and genuine God-fearing piety. The 
one may exist without the other. There is in 
man a strong innate craving for excitement. It 
is this that sustains places of amusement, theatres, 
balls, race-courses, risky adventures, and much 
of our popular literature. Human nature sighs 
for new sensations: and if it cannot have them in 
one way, it will try to have them in another. 
And there is much in the ministry of a skilful 
and able man of God to gratify this craving. 
There are many sacred subjects which, in the 
hands of a bright man, are capable of raising 
the soul to the highest pitch of interest and de- 
light. 

We also have in us a native desire for knowl- 
edge, a curiosity to know and understand. Like 
the Athenians of old, we are all anxious to be 
informed about ever}- new thing. And a vigorous 
ministry of divine truth has much in it to teach 
and please. A gifted and true preacher will ever 
and anon be bringing forth things that are novel, 
electrifying, and pleasing, even though they may 
not sway the life. 

People also like to hear how they can be most 
comfortable and happy. They like to hear of 



SEXIGESIMA. I 3 I 

heaven, even if they never put themselves on the 
path to get there. They like discourses on the 
glory, the kingdom, the purposes, and the prom- 
ises of God, though they never become His will- 
ing subjects. It pleases them. It makes them 
feel better. It helps to make them forget their 
cares, troubles, and vexations. And so, where 
there is a warm heart, a lively imagination, and 
some artistic skill and dramatic genius in a min- 
ister of God, there is plenty to make him a popu- 
lar favorite, on whose lips the multitude delights 
to hang. It is a pleasant song to them. But 
there may be all this, as in the case of Eze- 
kiel's hearers, and yet be no spiritual and saving 
benefit. 

The true test of a profitable hearing of the 
word is not emotion, but obedience, — not the 
feeling of delight and joy over the impressive 
magnificence of the truth, but in the power it has 
to influence our conduct and shape our life. The 
great defect in Kzekiel's hearers was, not that 
they were not charmed by what he said, or did not 
love to hear him descant with that burning vehe- 
mence of thought and pictorial description which 
appear in his prophecies, but that it wrought no 
change in their hearts, and left them as dead to 
God and holiness as they came to it. It was not 
that they lacked in zeal and pleasure in listening 
to him, or in hanging on the utterances which he 
brought them from the Lord; but that his beau- 
tiful presentations did not arouse their consciences, 
nor move them to repentance, nor bring them to 



J 



132 RESPECTFUL HEARING. 

faith and spiritual consecration. They were full 
of eagerness to hear his words, and admired them; 
but the trouble was, that they did them not. 

And just so it is with multitudes of Gospel 
hearers in our day. They love to go to church. 
It is their delight to hear what they call a good 
sermon. It kindles their imaginations. It rav- 
ishes their souls. It works them up to a lofty 
pitch of ecstatic feeling, and brings around their 
fancy such an array of solemn and affecting 
images that everything else in the world for 
the time seems to be nothing but emptiness and 
vanity. They melt with emotion; they swim 
with exultation; they are lifted with transport; 
they glow with enthusiasm; heaven itself some- 
times seems to open around them; and their whole 
being is again and again pervaded through and 
through with what wears the semblance of the 
most saintly sacredness. But the vision passes. 
The whirlwind of rapturous enjoyment subsides. 
The entrancing song ceases. The picture is with- 
drawn. And presently they are just what they 
were before. With all their weeping, and admir- 
ing, and faculties put upon the stretch of intensest 
gratification, there is no motion of effective obedi- 
ence. With their judgment persuaded, their fancy 
enlivened, their hearing charmed, and all within 
them feasted by the rich and varied luxuries of a 
banquet of heavenly truth, they are not brought 
to the turning point of conversion, or to the prac- 
tical embrace of a single item of dutifulness. They 
hear the word, and do homage to the preacher as 



SEXIGESIMA. I33 

one who can play well on an instrument; but the 
impression soon dies away, and sinks into nothing- 
ness, like the cadences of a lovely song, without 
practical effect. 

But, of what use is it to have and to hear the 
word of God, if we fail to conform to it? The 
preaching of the Gospel is not for amusement, 
pleasurable entertainment, or aesthetic gratifica- 
tion. It is to move us to action, — to awaken us 
to a right consciousness of our wants and our duty, 
— to make thorough Christians of us, and obedient 
children of the Lord of hosts, doing His will on 
earth, and living and waiting for the glory that is 
hereafter to be revealed. Where this fails, every- 
thing fails, however delighted we may be to hear 
the word, or laudatory of those who preach it. 
" Not the hearers of the law are just before God, 
but the doers of the law." Our hearing must 
make us better men and women, or we are only 
the worse for it. 

It is indeed a great thing to hear the word of 
God. Our eternal life depends upon it. But 
unless its presentations move us to actions, and 
work in us fruits of obedience, we lose all the 
good which it is meant to be to us, and our eter- 
nity will be all the more unhappy. 

And what, then, is the reason that so many are 
pleased to hear the Gospel, and willingly assent 
to its great truths, and are delighted when they 
can listen to men who can preach it with power, 
and yet fail to submit themselves to it? The 
hindering cause may not be the same in all cases; 



134 RESPECTFUL HEARING. 

but the text states where the difficulty lay in 
Ezekiel's admiring auditors. God's eye saw 
where the trouble was, and located it first of all 
in this that their heart went after their gain. It 
was not that they didn't regard Ezekiel as a true 
prophet. It was not that they disputed the truth 
of what he taught. It was not that they did not 
feel the deepest admiration for his efforts and 
presentations. But the trouble was that their 
hearts were at bottom so pre-occupied with what 
related to their immediate earthly comfort, gain, 
and pleasure that their admiration of his grand 
sermons wrought no practical obedience. 

And here is the one great trouble with very 
many church-goers still. They believe in relig- 
ion. They honor the Church. They favor the 
Gospel and all its good and faithful ministers. 
They are pleased to hear the truth of God master- 
fully preached. They speak with eager commen- 
dation of many sermons to which they have lis- 
tened. Their voices may often be heard inviting 
and urging friends and neighbors to come and 
hear certain ministers. All of which is very 
good, and speaks well for them as far as it goes. 
But when we ask them to confess that Saviour of 
whom they like to hear ; to enlist fully under that 
banner which they like to see unfurled and de- 
fended with eloquence and power ; to renounce 
the devil and his works and ways, they are never 
quite prepared. Their bottom feelings after all 
run in a different channel. They have their own 
preferences and likes and ideas, to which they 



SEXIGESIMA. 135 

give precedence over the plain and acknowledged 
demands of God. And in heaven it is written of 
them, u their heart goeth after their gain ," — after 
their own choosings and pleasure. 

Ho, then, ye people who hear God's words, but 
do them not, — ye that have so long been listening 
with satisfaction to the messengers of Heaven, 
but have never found it in your hearts to obey 
their message, — ye that have been so often de- 
lighted with the glorious truths of the Gospel, 
and are so pleased to hear them expounded, — 
where do you stand to-day in the matter of obedi- 
ence ? Has your hearing of the truth made you 
followers of it ? Do you, as newborn babes, desire 
the sincere milk of the word that you may grow 
thereby ? Are you making practical use of that 
blessed Gospel, in whose masterly presentations 
you have often found so much pleasure? Alas, 
for those who have no higher homage to give to 
the messages of Heaven! 



®f)e passing Sabiour- 

Quinquagesima . 




And they told him, that Jesus of Nazareth passeth by. — Luke 
18:37. 

f|ESUS of Nazareth! Who has not heard 
of Jesus of Nazareth? For more than 
eighteen hundred years the world has 
been resounding with His name, as the 
sublimest Personage that ever walked the earth in 
flesh and blood. Nor has there ever lived a man 
who has drawn to Him more hearts, or more 
deeply influenced human history and condition. 
Millions on millions throughout all the earth this 
day rejoice to call Him Saviour, and build on 
Him their highest hopes and supremest confi- 
dence. 

We here behold Him on a journey, marching 
on foot, accompanied by His chosen disciples, 
and surrounded by throngs of excited people. It 
was the most momentous journey ever performed 
on earth, not indeed in the grandeur of its form, 
but in its intent and consequences. It was a 
journey on which hung the hopes of the world, 
and of all men, for time and eternity. It was 



QUINQUAGESIMA. 1 37 

the journey of the only begotten Son of God to 
give himself up to betrayal by one of his own 
familiar friends, — to buffetings and lashings and 
mockings and maltreatment by His enemies, — 
to the shame and horrors of crucifixion with the 
worst of criminals, and to immolation, death, and 
the grave as an atonement for human transgres- 
sion, that He might redeem a world lying under 
the condemnation of a violated law. He was not 
being dragged or driven to it, nor moving without 
knowing what was to happen; but voluntarily, 
and with full comprehension of every item of 
what He was to endure. Aye, it was a journey 
at which we may well stand amazed, and at which 
the principalities of the upper worlds doubtless 
were moved with mysterious wonder. 

In this journey we here behold Him in the 
vicinity of Jericho, — a town nearest the site of 
those cities of the plain which God's fiery judg- 
ments had blotted out, — a town which had itself 
once been miraculously destroyed, and concerning 
which a curse had been pronounced on the man 
who should attempt to rebuild it. Of all the 
Jewish cities, it was the one on which God's con- 
demnation rested, and a significant type of this 
world, in which the curse has been festering ever 
since Adam's expulsion from Eden. God then 
said to Him, " Cursed is the ground for thy sake; 
in sorrow shalt thou eat of it all the days of thy 
life;" and to this day we still see and feel what 
was then spoken. But even to this city of the 
curse Jesus of Nazareth comes, with ears open to 



I38 THE PASSING SAVIOUR. 

the cries of the helpless, and with ample power 
and ready will to relieve, bless, and save. 

Nor was His presence there unheralded or un- 
explained. Zaccheus learned of it, and climbed 
the sycamine tree to get a view of Him. There 
was a commotion which arrested the attention of 
the blind beggar by the wayside, and led him to 
inquire what it meant. There were also people 
to tell him that Jesus of Nazareth was passing. 
It was not a concealed nor hidden thing that this 
notable Personage had come to Jericho. 

And so it is even to this present. He still 
presents himself to this Jericho. Wherever two 
or three are gathered together in His name, there 
He is, in the midst of them, able to save unto the 
uttermost. Nor is this presence without mani- 
festations. There are stir and agitation enough to 
indicate it, and plenty to tell and explain the 
meaning. 

A devout young woman was asked what the 
ringing of the church-bell every day at six o'clock 
meant. Her answer was, "It means that Jesus 
of Nazareth is passing by." It was a truth, but 
one not always perceived or considered. No 
church-bell ever rings at its regular time, but to 
tell those who hear it that the blessed Jesus is at 
hand. The movement of every company going 
in or out of the place devoted to Christian wor- 
ship, every sound of sacred song, every voice of 
prayer, every Gospel sermon, every call to devo- 
tion, every Christian assembly, tells that Jesus of 
Nazareth is passing by. And a thousand things 



QUINQUAGESIMA. 1 39 

in every one's experience, if only there is an ear 
to listen or a heart open to be impressed, utter 
and proclaim the same. Those solemn feelings 
in the chamber of death ; those touching remem- 
brances of a mother long since in heaven, of the 
little prayers she taught, and the heart-throbs and 
tears that came when standing in silence by her 
grave; those thoughts of God and eternity that 
press upon the soul in hours of sleepless lone- 
ness; and those disturbing dreams of what is to 
be when this present life is over; — all betoken 
the mysterious presence of this Jesus of Nazareth 
meant to arrest attention and induce application 
for His saving power. And this day, this service, 
and these very words I am speaking; what are 
they, but notifications to you of the great truth 
told to the poor blind man at Jericho? 

We cannot see this wonderful Personage, as he 
could not ; but we can believe what is so credibly 
told us, as he did. " The goings of our God and 
King are in His sanctuary." Where His people 
are, and His Gospel sounds, there He is. And if 
any are not willing to believe it, it is their loss, 
and not the fault of those who explain and declare 
it to them; for He has come, and is here to bless. 

When this poor man learned that Jesus was 
passing he felt that the supreme moment of his 
life had come. Realizing that He who had given 
sight to other blind, opened the ears of the deaf, 
loosed the tongues of the dumb, cleansed lepers, 
and even raised the dead was there, he could not 



I40 THE PASSING SAVIOUR. 

let the opportunity pass without crying out with 
all his might for a like deliverance from his in- 
firmity. And the sublimest chance that can pos- 
sibly come to ailing man is when Jesus comes to 
him and makes His divine presence known. The 
hour in which he learns of the Saviour's presence 
is the hour of his eternal salvation, if he will only 
seize upon and improve it, — the time in all the 
duration of his being for securing the highest 
boon of his existence. 

There is often much to discourage prompt and 
energetic effort to avail one's self of the Saviour's 
presence, even when we know that He is passing. 
This world is no friend to grace. When we fain 
would cry for mercy there are plenty of voices and 
influences to urge us to desist and wait. There are 
unbelievers to say, Hold your peace ; it is all delu- 
sion and folly. There are worldly wise to say, Hold 
your peace ; you are only disgracing yourself. 
Depraved nature and carnal pride protest and say, 
Hold your peace, and don't sacrifice the joy of 
life for a heaven you know nothing about. Even 
some professed divines are ready with cautions 
against being righteous overmuch. And com- 
rades and relatives sometimes frown and say, 
Hold your peace, and do not scandalize yourself 
and friends with such hysterical craziness. 

Thus it was that many sought to silence this 
poor blind man's cries. "But he cried so much 
the more, Thou Son of David, have mercy on 
me." It was his matter, not theirs; and he had 
too much at stake to be turned from the great and 



QUINQUAGESIMA. 141 

only opportunity of his life. And if any would 
truly profit by the presence of Jesus, they dare not 
heed such ill advice nor slacken in the earnestness 
of their prayers. 

Greatly to our encouragement, however, we here 
behold the Saviour halting in His journey to give 
gracious answer to this beggar's cries. How dif- 
ferent from the unfeeling multitude! What others 
deemed a nuisance He regarded with tender con- 
sideration. No sooner did He hear those cries 
than He stopped and had the suppliant brought 
to Him. How marvellous, that One so great, so 
famous, on so momentous a business, followed by 
all the country, eagerly waited for by multitudes 
at other points, and with the redemption of a 
world weighing on His soul, should suffer himself 
to be interrupted in His journey by the seeming 
impertinence and clamor of an insignificant men- 
dicant! Ah, but people do not begin to under- 
stand the tenderness and charity of the heart of 
Jesus. The more miserable and helpless the souls 
that cry to Him the more ready is He to give ear. 
No matter what else may claim His attention, all 
must stop till those prayers are answered, and the 
needed relief given. ' ' We have not an High Priest 
who cannot be touched by the feeling of our in- 
firmities." And even amid the sublimities of His 
heavenly administrations there is nothing that 
more enlists Him than the prayers of needy souls 
that crave His mercy. Nay, He ever waiteth to 
be gracious. Men may doubt, and fear to ap- 
proach Him, and think themselves too mean and 



142 THE PASSING SAVIOUR. 

guilty to presume that He would consider such as 
they ; but it would be against His very nature to 
reject or disregard the guiltiest, meanest, and 
most unworthy sinner that humbly and earnestly 
calls upon His Name. O happy, happy we, to 
have such a Saviour on whom to call amid our 
ailments and distresses! 

His heart is made of tenderness, 
His soul is filled with love. 

And what a blessed good fortune it is that this 
Jesus has come so near and within gracious hear- 
ing of our cries ! It means salvation come within 
our reach. It means the presence of divine power 
to open our blind eyes', to heal our ailing souls, to 
modify our sorrows, to give us light for darkness, 
to fill our mouths with joyous songs, and to give 
us place among the pilgrim hosts on their way to 
the heavenly Jerusalem. It means the King of 
glory at our very doors, ready to help and save 
whosoever in humble faith and earnestness applies 
to Him. 

Dear friends, have you learned to appreciate the 
wonderful condescension of gracious Heaven? 
Has it ever come to you to think of the transcen- 
dent opportunity divine goodness has thus vouch- 
safed? Have you become at all awake to the 
momentousness of the presentations ? Do you at 
all realize the unspeakable favor to us poor sinful 
mortals contained in the great Gospel truth that 
"Jesus of Nazareth passeth by?" 

And what, then, have you done to avail your- 



QUINQUAGESIMA. 1 43 

selves of His gracious presence? — you, whose lives 
have been so burdened with afflictions and trials ? 
— you, who have so long felt your unreadiness to 
meet your righteous Judge ? — you, who have spent 
so much of your time in worldliness, indifference, 
and sin ?—you, who have had so many solemn ad- 
monitions of Providence, and on whose hearts and 
homes so many strokes have fallen to awaken you 
to a better life ? — you, who have so often felt the 
degradations and punishments of a reckless and 
godless waywardness, and tasted the bitterness 
that comes from the service of lust and folly ? — 
you, who have nothing to count on for a happy 
life when this world ceases to be your dwelling 
place ? — you, who were so carefully brought up to 
proper living, yet have so deeply fallen from a 
faithful mother's teachings, and in spite of a 
mother's prayers and tears? — you, who have been 
intending, and promising, and waiting, while the 
years have glided away, and your heads are blos- 
soming for the grave? — you, to whom the mes- 
sage has so frequently been declared "that Jesus 
of Nazareth passeth by? What have you done 
for the saving of your soul ? Alas, how few there 
be to put up the cry for mercy while they may ! 

And now that we are approaching our annual 
L,enten services, the time has come when we may 
say, u that Jesus of Nazareth passeth by." There 
is a stir that tells of His nearness. And if any 
one is in real earnest to secure His merciful help, 
this is the opportune time for setting about it. 
Other such seasons have come and gone, and left 



144 THE PASSING SAVIOUR. 

many just where they were before ; shall it be so 
again with those who have never yet done any- 
thing to have place in the Saviour's company? 
When Jesus thus passed through Jericho it was 
the last time. He never returned to that place 
again. And so there must come a last time for 
sinful souls to possess themselves of His salvation. 

L,et me then emphasize the truth, "that Jesus 
of Nazareth passeth by. ' ' He is now at hand ; but, 
"passing by," means departure as well as pres- 
ence. He is on His journey to Jerusalem, and 
will not long be within the reach of those who 
most need His help. The procession is moving, 
and soon will be beyond those who neglect to call 
upon Him. When it gets beyond Jericho, it will 
be too late for its blind and destitute inhabitants 
to make their cries heard by Him who alone can 
help them. And how will they then blame and 
distress themselves that they were so negligent ! 

Now, therefore, is the accepted time; there may 
never come another. Now, while "Jesus of Naza- 
reth passeth by," is the day of salvation. And 
if this incident has anything to teach and impress, 
it is the supreme importance of prompt and ener- 
getic effort to secure the Saviour's merciful atten- 
tion and gracious help now, while the chance is 
here. 

God help us all to take in the lesson, and to 
profit by it ! 



Qlty ILattot (ffialL 

Ash Wednesday. 



I m ill u 



Come unto Me, all ye that labor and are heavy laden, and I will 
give you rest. — Matt, ii : 18. 

\ ANY look upon the season of Lent as a 
time to impose burdens on the flesh, and 
observe it in that spirit, or disregard it 
for that reason. Some starve and afflict 
their bodies, and load themselves with onerous 
tasks, hoping thus to recommend themselves to 
the divine favor, or to satisfy for their past failures 
and misdeeds. But the true idea is rather to help 
us lay off our burdens, to lift us out of our de- 
pressions, and to minister to our peace. Lent 
commemorates a long fast and a sore conflict on 
the part of our blessed Saviour, but not so much 
to have us imitate His experience as to have us 
see the cost of our redemption, and gratefully 
appreciate that costly purchase by intensifying 
our devotion and coming to Him for deliverance 
and rest. 

There be many weary and heavy-laden souls. 
There are millions on this fair earth, whose bur- 
dens, pains, and heartaches God only knows. 
Some suffer in one way, others in other ways. 

10 145 



I46 THE LENTEN CALL. 

We cannot open our eyes without seeing the evi- 
dences and signs of care, anxiety, unrest, and 
distress. Even the sunniest life has its dark days. 
From all sections of the world, and from all 
classes, the cry comes : " O where shall rest be 
found — rest for the weary soul ?' ' And one great 
office of the Gospel is to direct and lead such 
oppressed and longing spirits to the only source 
of true relief. 

The central voice of the Gospel is articulated 
in the word of Jesus given in the text: "Come 
tmto Me, all ye that labor and are heavy laden, 
and I will give you rest. ' ' 

This tells us that there is rest in Jesus, and 
that it is His prerogative to impart it. He hath 
purchased it by His fasting, toils, tears, and blood. 
He is enthroned at the right hand of eternal 
majesty to give it to all those who seek it at His 
hands. And to bring, offer, and bestow it upon 
the troubled and sorrowing, He has constituted 
His ministers and Church, and sent forth His 
word to all people. 

He does not propose instant and entire release 
from all cares, trials, and afflictions incident to 
this present life. Ours is an adverse and per- 
turbed world; and in our passage through it we 
must encounter many trying and often painful 
vicissitudes. Indeed, this necessarily belongs to 
our discipline and preparation for the proper ap- 
preciation and enjoyment of His rest. 

Neither does He propose to benumb our sensi- 
bilities, so as not to feel the poignancy of sorrow 



ASH WEDNESDAY. 1 47 

and trial. The rest offered is not the rest of a 
stone, nor of a corpse. A Christian is as much 
alive to the hardships and burdens of life as any 
one. 

Nor is it proposed to exempt us from effort, toil, 
and labor. Man was made for activity. The sen- 
tence requiring of us to get our bread in the sweat 
of our faces is as much a mercy as a curse. Leis- 
ure, idleness, and nothing to do is not rest, but 
the breeder of ennui, discontent, mischief, and 
unhappiness. 

Nor is the proposed rest the immediate and 
total suppression and eradication of the vexatious 
workings of indwelling evil. The best of Chris- 
tians here carry with them a corrupt and tainted 
nature. Paul had been in the third heaven ; but 
when he came back he still found a law in his 
members warring against the law of his mind, 
which much distressed him by its power. 

What, then, is the Rest which Our Saviour 
offers to the weary and heavy laden ? 

The greatest burden that ever fell, or can fall, 
upon man is the burden of sin, and God's con- 
demnation on account of it. And the first and 
greatest element of rest in Jesus is release from 
the impossible task of giving satisfaction for our 
many defects and faults, or of working out a 
righteousness of our own in which to stand justi- 
fied before God. There lives not a man nor woman, 
if moral sensibility has not been wholly oblite- 
rated, who is not conscious of having done many 



I48 THE LENTEN CALL. 

wrong things, or does not feel that something 
must be done to placate the just wrath of offended 
Heaven. It is the common cry of guilty man : 
"Wherewithal shall I come before the Lord, and 
bow myself before the high God ? Shall I come 
before Him with burnt offerings ? Will the Lord 
be pleased with thousands of rams, or with ten 
thousand rivers of oil ? Shall I give my first-born 
for my transgression, the fruit of my body for the 
sin of my soul ?' ' What have men not done to 
propitiate the Almighty ! — What pilgrimages, sac- 
rifices, payments, offerings, and mutilations of 
the poor body, — what endless ritualistic doings, — 
ascetic tortures, vows, resolves, and oathbound 
abjurgations, — what torments of life and being, — 
and all without avail ! O the burdensome weari- 
ness of man in trying to be just with God ! And 
such despairing and heavy laden souls, above all, 
we are commissioned to invite to rest in Jesus. 
He is u the propitiation for our sins ; and not for 
ours only, but for the sins of the whole world. ' ' 
What no works of man, no doings or renderings 
within our power, can ever accomplish, He hath 
taken upon himself to do and fulfill for us, quench- 
ing divine condemnation with His blood, and con- 
secrating through His flesh a way for us into the 
holiest. Having made Him our Refuge, condem- 
nation is gone, sin is forgiven, and we are free 
from all that the law may have wherewith to hold 
us under its penalties. 

Yes, ill-deserving as we are, and much as we 
have provoked the wrath of righteous Heaven, 



ASH WEDNESDAY. 1 49 

Jesus has made peace through His cross, laid 
down His own life to pay the forfeit of ours, pro- 
cured for us the favor of God, and now invites us 
to come and receive from Him the blessed rest 
from the impossible task of saving ourselves. 

And with this comes the further rest of heart 
and mind amid the cares and troubles of this 
brief life; — not exemption from them, but compos- 
ure and patience in them. Accepted in Christ as 
God's dear children, and with His unfailing prom- 
ises to see us through in safety, there remains no 
doubt that we shall come out all the more profited 
by what we suffer here. He who clothes the lilies 
of the field, which' neither toil nor spin, and feeds 
the little birds, which neither sow nor reap, will 
not fail to clothe and feed those whom He hath 
purchased at so great a cost. Caring for us more 
than a mother careth for her babe, we may be 
sure that all He sends, or withholds, or permits, 
is for our greater ultimate good, — overruled by 
His gracious hand for our benefit. And herein is 
true and blessed rest, even in the midst of earth's 
hardest trials and sorest afflictions. L,et the days 
bring forth their worst, we can still say with 
Paul: Dying, yet, behold, we live; chastened, yet 
not killed ; sorrowful, yet always rejoicing ; poor, 
yet making many rich ; having nothing, yet pos- 
sessing all things. 

And along with this is rest from all tormenting 
fear of death. Timid nature shrinks from the 
contemplation of the tomb. But Christ has over- 
come death, robbed it of its sting, and transformed 



1$0 THE LENTEN CALL. 

it into a peaceful and sweet repose from earthly 
anxieties, pains, and weaknesses. It is a great 
privilege to live and labor for Christ; but to 
depart and be with Him is far better. To the 
child of God death is a friendly messenger, bring- 
ing much more gain than privation. The dark- 
ness, to earthly vision, may seem chilly and deep; 
but it is only a temporary shadow. As the 
waters of Jordan rolled back when the priests' 
feet touched them, and let Israel cross in triumph; 
so it will be with believers when called to cross 
this mysterious river of death. And in the calm 
of this assurance Jesus invites us to rest. 

But all this is only preliminary to an immortal 
rest beyond this present world. ' ' For we know 
that if our earthly house of this tabernacle were 
dissolved, we have a building of God, an house 
not made with hands, eternal in the heavens.'' 
By the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the 
dead we are begotten again to a lively hope of 
an inheritance incorruptible, undefiled, and that 
fadeth not away, reserved for us in heaven; a 
hope that is an anchor to the soul both sure and 
steadfast. And what a peace-giving comfort is 
this to our weary and heavy-laden spirits ! 

O glorious rest ! O blest abode ! 
We shall be near and like our God ! 

This, then, may serve to indicate the rest which 
Jesus offers and pledges to those who come to 
Him. 

And how it exalts Him above everything to be 



ASH WEDNESDAY. 151 

found on earth, that He should have it in His 
power to propose to do such mighty things ! Who 
can give peace to a troubled soul ? Yet, He makes 
this claim, and engages to fulfill what He pro- 
poses. He does not say, " I will show you rest,'' 
or, "I will telly on of rest." An ordinary herald 
might do that. The word is, " / will give you 
rest." He claims that it is in His power and 
province to give it; that He has the unquestion- 
able right to give it; and that it is His will and 
purpose to give it. How sublime the presenta- 
tion ! What a basis for the confirmation of our 
faith in Jesus ! He who has the power, the right, 
and the gracious will to make such proposal and 
promise, may be trusted to do what He says; for 
He thus shows himself to be the invincible Christ, 
the omnific Son of God. 

And for the impartation of all this blessedness 
His only conditions are that we come to Him for 
it. There is no limit to His invitation. All that 
labor and are heavy laden are invited; and all 
they have to do is to come. 

Nor is there any long and tedious journey to be 
performed. He is here. Wherever His word 
sounds, He is in waiting to be gracious. 

No laborious preparation is required. The thief 
on the cross, within a few hours of his death, 
could make an effectual application, and find ad- 
mission into Paradise. All the fitness we require 
is to feel our need of Him. The simple matter is 
to come. 

Of course, this means belief that He is, and 



152 THE LENTEN CALL. 

that He is the true Saviour, able and willing to 
save all who come. Of course, it means an earnest 
looking unto Him as our only hope and help, the 
lifting to Him of the suppliant eye, the breathing 
to Him the penitential prayer, and the sending 
out of the heart to lay hold on Him and His word 
of promise. We are indeed weak, unworthy, 
inapt, and helpless; but that is no barrier. The 
more we feel our want the more tender and 
urgent His invitations are; and His Spirit is ever 
with His word to help our infirmities and to fur- 
ther our prayers. The sick and wasted child, 
stricken with death and speechless, can still cast 
an imploring look into the face of its watching 
mother; and so may we, even from our deepest 
extremities, look to Jesus and be saved. 

Dear friends, these are precious Gospel truths, — 
truths upon which hang the only abiding peace 
of burdened souls, — truths which it is a happiness 
to be privileged to declare, — truths which we 
should all rejoice in and eagerly embrace. What, 
indeed, could be more worthy of welcome to sin- 
ners such as we ? 

x\re you sorrowful, then, sick of soul, and laden 
with unhappiness ? Is your heart heavy and sad 
over blasted hopes, or a life wasted in folly ? Have 
you found it a weariness to live, your way over- 
clouded, your heart ready to despair ? This Len- 
ten Season brings a word for you. It is the word 
of Jesus. He speaks it to you. His heart yearns 
to comfort and help you. And His word to you 
is, " Come unto Me, and I will give you rest." 



ASH WEDNESDAY. 153 

Have you been a backslider — an unfaithful ser- 
vant — a truant from the school of Christ? Has 
the world allured you from your sacred vows, and 
silenced your devotions ? Have you made a wreck 
of your once joyful faith, and drifted away from 
God, and church, and piety? Is your soul bur- 
dened with the sad retrospect ? And would you 
really find forgiveness and restoration ? Look to 
the merciful Jesus. His word is to you : ' ' Come 
unto Me, and I will give you rest." 

Or, are you of those who have till now been 
neglectful of God and indifferent to the things 
that make for eternal peace? Has Mammon, 
pleasure, vanity, ' been your God, monopolizing 
your worship, absorbing your powers, wasting 
your energies, and destroying your life ? Do you 
realize how much of a sinner you are, without 
God and without hope in the world, unable to 
think of death and eternity without painful mis- 
givings? And is it your honest wish to find shel- 
ter and peace for your neglected and needy soul 
when God shall call you hence ? Look to Jesus. 
His word is to you: "Come unto Me, and I will 
give you rest." 

Thus, then, the message is delivered. God help 
the hearers of it to take it to their hearts, that they 
may not fail of the rest that is in Jesus ! 



Satanic Sittings. 

First Sunday i?i Lent. 




And the Lord said, Simon, Simon, behold, Satan hath desired to 
have you, that he may sift yott as wheat: but I have prayed for thee, 
that thy faith fail not.— Luke 22 : 31, 32. 

JOMB people are pleased to make a jest 

of Satan, and do not believe there is a 
Devil. Even Christian believers do not 
always sufficiently consider how much 
they are exposed to the malignant and treacher- 
ous wiles and instigations of this evil spirit. The 
Gospel for to-day speaks of him as a subtle 
tempter, who even assaulted the holy Christ and 
sought to destroy Him : and here the Saviour 
tells of his desire to compass the ruin of the Apos- 
tle Peter. It was this evil being who beguiled 
our first parents, and brought sin into the world, 
with all its mischiefs. The Bible represents him 
as a murderer, a liar, and the primal source of all 
wickedness and untruth. He it is who inter- 
feres with the effect of the divine word on men's 
hearts, who sows tares among the wheat, — who 
takes on the garb of an angel of light to mislead, 
deceive, and destroy. And quite a different world 



FIRST SUNDAY IN LENT. 155 

ours would be, if it were not for the doings of this 
foul enemy of all good. 

In the text the Saviour tells of his desiring and 
asking to have Peter in his power, especially on 
account of his prominence and bold professions, 
that he might try and test him. 

It was thus that he desired to have Job, because 
that venerable patriarch was esteemed "a perfect 
and upright man, one that feared God and eschewed 
evil." The motive was purely malicious, mean- 
ing to put these men to the test, to buffet and try 
them, claiming that their piety was selfish or 
hypocritical, and would soon give way if subjected 
to his rigid sifting. 

And a most dangerous foe he is, because of his 
great intelligence, subtlety, and might. He is an 
archangel fallen, a leader of revolt that depopu- 
lated a part of heaven, a dark and unseen spirit, 
the head of an empire of evil spirits, having direct 
access to our minds and hearts, and capable of af- 
fecting us from without and from within. The mass 
of the world's population is more or less under 
his dominion and control, and he is largely potent 
in all its history and elements. He has allies in 
the depravity that lurks in our own nature, and 
can readily stir up evil thoughts and passions, as 
well as foment sore temptations from without. 
There is scarcely an agency or motive by which 
men are moved which he cannot use to turn souls 
from God and righteousness. 

He is indeed under bonds. He could not touch 
Job without divine permission, and was obliged 



I56 SATANIC SIFTINGS. 

to stop where God commanded him to stop. He 
had to ask consent to sift Peter. And the L,ord 
Almighty could easily make an utter end of him, 
as He one day will. But, in the present stage of 
the divine economies, Satan is allowed to exercise 
his subtle and malicious power, though in measure 
curbed, that those who are so minded may, by 
divine grace, resist and overcome him. 

Candidates for favors need to be tested, that 
they may prove their fitness to receive them. 
Untried virtue is always uncertain. People must 
be made to show what they really are, in order to 
righteous promotion. And as we are called by 
the Gospel to very exalted dignities and honors, 
it is but just that our faith and devotion should 
be put to the test to prove our fidelity and dutiful- 
ness. Though the danger is that some will utterly 
fail, it is due to those who have in them the grace 
and strength of steadfastness to have the chance 
to show the fact. 

Besides, there are many fruitful vines which 
need purging in order to full fruitfulness. There 
are husks, and chaff, and light grains, and noxious 
seeds, mingled with the best of wheat, which only 
close and trying sifting and winnowing can re- 
move. Trials are not an unmitigated misfortune. 
Even temporary failures under trial may be the 
means of correcting errors, helping the good, and 
strengthening steadfastness. Sore temptation, 
though for the time it may sadly shake and cloud 
the Christian's integrity, is often the very best 
thing that can happen to him. The sifting of 



FIRST SUNDAY IN LENT. 1 57 

Peter, which resulted in his melancholy fall, cured 
him of his overweening self-conceit, and by the 
grace and prayers of Jesus made of him a bet- 
ter man and a more efficient apostle. And hence 
St. James says: ' ' Blessed is the man that endureth 
temptation; for when he is tried he shall receive 
the crown of life." 

And for these siftings and trials of believers, 
compelling them to watch, and fight, and struggle 
to maintain their spiritual standing, God gives a 
certain liberty to these infernal powers to exert 
their malignity. They mean it for ruin; but He 
permits and overrules it for good. But for the 
sore trials that Satan was permitted to inflict upon 
Job there could have been no such illustrious 
demonstration of his integrity. We never could 
have known the full strength of Abraham's faith 
had it not been put to so severe a test. Paul was the 
happier and the stronger apostle from the buffer- 
ings of Satan; they drove him the closer to his 
Ivord. Nor would the saints be as saintly on 
earth, or as highly exalted in heaven, were it not 
for these very assaults, siftings, and temptations 
with which Satan is permitted to ply them. Jesus 
was "led tip of the Spirit to be tempted of the 
devil," that He might conquer, and prove His 
immaculate spiritual fitness to become the Re- 
deemer of the world. And the Saviour did not 
interfere to keep Peter from falling into the hands 
of Satan to be sifted and tried, but only prayed 
that his faith might not fail. 

Dear friends, it is not possible for any of us to 



I58 SATANIC SIFTINGS. 

escape temptations and trials. It lies in the con- 
dition of onr nature, of the world we live in, and 
in the economy of God, for us to contend with 
evil, and to face the risk of being vanquished by 
it. Our faith and devotion must be tried and 
proven, in order to our promotion with the glori- 
fied. As followers of Christ, we must needs wres- 
tle, not only with flesh and blood, but against 
principalities and powers, against world- lords of 
darkness, against spiritual hosts of wickedness 
that infest the very atmosphere we breathe. Even 
when by the grace of God, as pictured of St. 
George, we succeed in getting the dragon beneath 
our feet, he still lives, and the conflict with him 
is not ended so long as we are in this world. 

Fortunately, we are not left to ourselves when 
the hour of trial comes. Though we cannot es- 
cape Satan's assaults and sifting, heavenly forces 
are not wanting to aid us in the conflict. Jesus 
prayed for Peter that his faith might not fail. 
His sympathy and His intercessions went with 
His servant in the impending trial, and it availed 
for His disciple's help. Just how it applied we 
cannot describe ; but it was there, and it was effec- 
tive. The trial came with sudden violence where 
it was not at all suspected. Though forewarned, 
the over-confident disciple was taken by surprise, 
and quickly found himself steeped in sin and 
shame. But it was only a temporary fall. It was 
permitted to prove to him his weakness and the 
folly of his bold self-conceit ; but it did not de- 
strov his faith in the Lord whom in his weakness 



FIRST SUNDAY IN LENT. 1 59 

he so profanely denied. He immediately saw 
and realized his sin, and was profoundly humili- 
ated. His soul was wrung with anguish for the 
wickedness into which he was betrayed ; and with 
untold bitterness he bewailed and lamented it. 
Clouds dense and oppressive were upon him. But 
he still loved and believed in Jesus, fearing only 
that Jesus might now abandon him. His repent- 
ance was quick and genuine. Humbled by his 
sore experience, Jesus did not cast him off, for He 
never casts off a penitent soul ; and Peter was all 
the wiser and better from the terrible sifting Satan 
had given him. The trial was sharp and sudden, 
and for the time disastrous ; but he came out of it 
the gainer. 

Great is the power of Satan, and strong is the 
hold he has upon us by reason of the evil that is 
in us. We cannot escape his cruel and dangerous 
assaults. But we have a precious ally and inter- 
cessor in Jesus. His heart and tender sympathy 
go with us in our trials. Having himself suffered, 
being tempted, He is able also to succor them that 
are tempted. Having overcome in the dreadful 
conflict, He is the more concerned and the better 
qualified to help us in ours. He is anxious for 
His people when in peril. He prayed for Peter, 
and He prays for us. He does not pray that no 
trials may come to us ; but that when they come 
we may have strength to bear them. And a 
blessed consolation it is that while we are agoniz- 
ing in the furnace of trial, Christ is agonizing in 
prayer that we may come through in safety. 



l60 SATANIC SIFTINGS. 

The prayers of Jesus avail much, but they avail 
only for those who hold on to their faith. There 
is no victory without faith ; and for people to give 
up and abandon their Christian faith is to lose all 
help. Jesus had prayed for Judas too ; but Judas 
had parted with his faith and sold himself to the 
enemies of his L,ord, and the day of his tempta- 
tion was his destruction. Of all things, when 
trials come, the great matter is to hold on to our 
faith. We may sometimes be disposed to think 
it is useless to try further, — that there is no good 
in prayer or hoping in Christ, — that we may as 
well give up first as last. And this is exactly the 
state of mind to which Satan would bring us. 
Having destroyed our faith, he knows that our 
ruin is sure. But though we have failed never so 
sadly, we must not yield our faith in Jesus. He 
is still our loving and pitying Saviour, and to His 
mercy we still must cling, and come back in 
humble penitence to trust and confide in Him. 

What Christ most desires in us is faith. Every- 
thing depends upon our faith. We are justified 
by faith. The victory that overcometh the world 
is our faith. All the assaults of Satan cannot 
result in our ruin so long as we hold on to our 
faith. Though we be thrown into the deep waters, 
faith is the rope that still connects us with the 
shore. And the great anxiety and prayer of Jesus 
is that, amid the trials and siftings to which we 
are subjected in this world, our faith fail not. 
Confiding in Him we are safe, however weak. 
Though we many times trip and fall, we shall not 



FIRST SUNDAY IN LENT. l6l 

be utterly cast down. And through Him that 
loved us, and gave himself for us, we shall still 
make the heavenly port, and have an abundant 
entrance into the everlasting kingdom of our 
adorable L,ord and Saviour. 

In the hour of trial, 

Jesus, plead for me ; 
Lest by base denial 

I depart from Thee. 
When Thou see'st me waver 

With a look recall, 
Nor for fear or favor 

Suffer me to fall. 



&ty Supreme jfnquirg, 

SecoJid Su?iday hi Lent. 




Dost thou believe on the Son of God ? — Jno. 9 : 35. 

" RIGIN ALLY, this striking question was 
addressed to a poor blind beggar at Jeru- 
salem. The particulars concerning him 
form one of the most remarkable and 
instructive narratives in the New Testament. I 
can only say now that at the time he was asked 
this question he was the subject of a wonderful 
mercy and of a very outrageous wrong. Blind 
from his birth, the gracious Saviour noticed him, 
and miraculously gave him his sight. This started 
a popular commotion and controversy leading to 
official investigations, all concerning the character 
of Christ. As in most such cases, there was much 
bad blood, and neither party was able to convince 
or satisfy the other. At length the man himself 
was called, questioned, and badgered on the sub- 
ject; but his testimony was so clear, and his argu- 
ment so conclusive, that the enemies of Christ 
were intensely angered, fell afoul of the poor 
man, denounced him as an apostate, and excom- 
municated him from the synagogue. ' ' They cast 
him out." 

162 



SECOND SUNDAY IN LENT. 1 63 

Honest witnessing to the truth sometimes brings 
into trouble; but when called to speak, nothing 
will excuse silence nor the least prevarication. 
The sympathies of Jesus are always with those 
who suffer for the truth's sake, and He will not 
fail to favor and bless them, as shown in the case 
of this man. 

When it came to the Saviour's ears that the 
poor man had been so unjustly treated, He sought 
him and asked him the question of the text. It 
was not in censure, but in the tenderest of loving 
compassion, that the question was asked. It was 
meant to open the way for augmented blessing. 
As the Jewish officials had cast him out of their 
fellowship, this question was put as a gracious 
preliminary to his admission into a heavenly citi- 
zenship. He had never before heard of ' ' the Son 
of God," and therefore could not at once answer. 
But he asked, "Who is the Lord, that I might 
believe on Him ?" Opportunity was thus created, 
as in the case of the woman of Samaria, to make 
the saving revelation. "And Jesus said unto 
him, Thou hast both seen Him, and He it is 
that talketh with thee. ' ' It was enough. Evan- 
gelic light broke in upon his soul, as the light of 
day had come into his darkened eyeballs. c ' And 
he said, Lord, I believe. And he worshipped 
Him." 

And now, in a like spirit, and for a like reason, 
this question comes to every one, ' ' Dost thon be- 
lieve on the Son of God?" 

It certainly is a question of very great impor- 



164 THE SUPREME INQUIRY. 

tance. Christ himself is the author of it, and He 
never speaks trifles, nor deals in matters of indiffer- 
ence. It is, indeed, one of the deepest, broadest, 
and most vital questions that can be asked. More 
hangs upon it than on any other that can engage 
the human mind. There are many other im- 
portant questions, — questions of science, govern- 
ment, social order, education, commerce, hygiene, 
and the like, — but none to compare in value and 
significance with this. Matters of the very highest 
moment, and the furthest reaching in extent, are 
involved in it. It is the question upon the answer 
to which each one's eternal destiny must turn. 
It is a question respecting Faith, without which 
it is impossible to please God, and without which 
there is no eternal life for any of us. 

The question is also intensely personal. It was 
originally spoken to one individual. Faith and 
salvation concern each soul individually. The 
question is not what bodies of people entertain, 
what parents or friends believe, or what the 
Church to which we belong confesses; for no 
community, parent, or Church can believe for 
us any more than they can eat or sleep for us. 
We must each believe for ourselves, — each man 
for himself, and each woman for herself, just as 
each is held separately accountable to God. The 
wording is in the singular, ' ' Dost thou believe 
on the Son of God?" and the matter cannot be 
turned over for some one else to answer in our 
place. It is Christ's address to each separate 
soul, — His word to you and me. 



SECOND SUNDAY IN LENT. 1 65 

The question also is very specific. It says 
nothing about pedigree or past history, whether 
good or bad. Nor is it simply whether we believe 
in a God. Many do that who do not at all believe 
that He ever had a Son, or that Christ is the 
only begotten of the Father. Nor is the question 
whether we are religiously inclined; for people 
may be given to devotional services and belong to 
churches, and still not believe on the Son of God. 
The pagans of Athens were "very religious ;" 
but they called Paul* a babbler, and ridiculed the 
story of Jesus and the resurrection. Jews, Ma- 
hommedans, and. zealots of other systems often 
put Christians to shame by their strictness in 
their several religions; yet do not at all believe 
in Jesus as the Son of God. Some who even 
profess and call themselves Christians make it 
a point to repudiate and deny that Jesus is the 
Son of God in any other sense than as an exalted 
and highly endowed creature; while others, who 
find no reason to doubt what the Scriptures say 
of Him, still give themselves so little concern 
about it as to be in no condition to say whether 
they believe on the Son of God or not. 

It was said to this man, that seeing and hearing 
Jesus was seeing and hearing the Son of God. 
This was spoken in the sense of the common or- 
thodox creed. So the man certainly understood 
it ; for he at once set himself to worship Christ, 
who instantly took place in his heart and mind as 
a Divine-human Being — God manifest in the 
flesh — his Divine and worshipful Redeemer and 



1 66 THE SUPREME INQUIRY. 

Ivord. And this is the definite and specific matter 
of faith covered by the Saviour's question ; — this, 
and nothing else. 

It is, furthermore, a question to which every 
one is expected to give an affirmative answer. 
This was expected from the man to whom it was 
first addressed, although he was not yet in full 
condition to answer it. The very asking was to 
prepare and help him to the answer. It is for the 
purpose of begetting and developing such faith 
and trust in Jesus that all His words and presen- 
tations are vouchsafed. He was born and lived in 
our world, and taught, and wrought, and suffered, 
and sent forth His witnesses, and has given His 
Spirit, that men might learn to know and believe 
in Him, the same as did this poor beggar. It is 
therefore expected of all hearers of the Gospel to 
believe, confess, and trust in Jesus as the Christ, 
which is the sublimest of all privileges within 
human reach. And if we do not come to such 
belief and hope in Him, ours is the fault and the 
loss. 

It is further implied in the original asking of 
this question that it involves no great difficulty. 
Faith, even saving faith, is a very simple thing. 
Here was a man, blind from his birth, an unedu- 
cated man, a man of very limited opportunities 
and small attainments, a poor beggar, living on 
alms ; yet he was expected to believe, and he did 
believe, and believe effectually, and could tell that 
he believed. Believing, indeed, is one of the 
commonest acts of life. We have faith in men, — 



SECOND SUNDAY IN LENT. 1 67 

faith in the government, — faith in institutions and 
enterprises to which we entrust our means, — faith 
in methods of conveyance to which we commit 
our lives, — faith in what friends and reliable peo- 
ple tell us, — faith to act in things without any 
certain assurance of what the result may be ; and 
scarcely a step in life do we take except on some 
kind of faith. We cannot move without it. And 
believing on the Son of God is in easy accord with 
our nature and our everyday habit. It is trust, 
confidence, reliance on what we regard as trust- 
worthy and true ; only that it is directed to Christ, 
and takes in what is testified of His greatness, 
love, and power to save. 

Embarking on a ship to cross the sea is a sim- 
ple act ; but it is an act of faith. It means confi- 
dence in the strength of the vessel, in the capacity 
of the captain, in the existence of a further shore, 
and in all the arrangements for a successful voy- 
age ; — such confidence that we willingly let go of 
the land, launch out upon the trackless ocean, and 
commit ourselves without fear to the craft that is 
to carry us over. Believing on the Son of God is 
an act of the same sort, equally simple, and, with 
the helps and assurances God has given, equally 
easy. In the one case there is no need for us to 
study shipbuilding, navigation, aud astronomy 
before we adventure. That has been done better 
than any of us can do it, and can avail for us 
whether we understand it or not. And so, in the 
other case, it is needless first to acquaint ourselves 
with all the profundities of theology, and to mas- 



l68 THE SUPREME INQUIRY. 

ter all the mysteries of the economy of grace. 
That has all been thought out and arranged with 
infallible wisdom. Our part is simply to surren- 
der ourselves wholly to Christ, and to the plan of 
God for saving men, and trust to Him to bring us 
to the desired haven. And when we thus give 
ourselves, confidingly and adoringly into our 
great Captain's hands, willing to sail and be gov- 
erned by His commands, we believe on the Son 
of God, and have the faith unto salvation. 

And yet faith in itself cannot save. It only 
links us to what can ; that is, to the all-sufficient 
Saviour. Faith is not the ship ; but the gangway 
by which we enter the ship. It is not the sun ; 
but the eye that perceives the light and makes it 
of service to direct the walk. It is not the treas- 
ure ; but the hand that takes and appropriates it. 
It is not salvation ; but it is the stepping aboard 
of what is arranged to land us in heaven. 

And where this faith exists it is bound to show 
itself. In the case of this poor man, what his 
heart felt his mouth spoke. His belief he con- 
fessed ; and according to his belief he acted. He 
worshipped his Saviour. There may be ortho- 
doxy in the head which does not affect the heart 
nor influence the life; but "faith without works is 
dead." True faith is a living principle, which 
moves the soul and speaks out in all manner of 
spiritual utterance and activity. Belief on the 
Son of God responds to His question, confesses 
His Name, and adoringly submits to His will. 
This is as natural and certain as that a sun shines, 



SECOND SUNDAY IN LENT. 169 

a fire burns, or a fountain flows. Dreams, tokens, 
and sudden impulses, as well as a lifeless creed, 
are nothing worth apart from these practical 
demonstrations of a living faith. And we can 
know whether we are thus affected, moved, influ- 
enced, and controlled with reference to our Lord 
and Saviour, as well as we can know that we are 
alive, or that we devote ourselves to anything else. 

As to the degree and strength of our faith, that 
is another matter. Faith has its degrees. It is 
sometimes weak and sometimes strong, even in 
the same individual. The question is not as to 
the amount of our faith, or as to a steady and un- 
clouded assurance ; but whether we embrace and 
hold to Christ as our divine Lord and Saviour, 
ready and willing to do and suffer as He may 
direct and appoint. This is believing on the Son 
of God, and this is what is contemplated in the 
inquiry of the text. 

The great question, then, comes directly and 
personally to each hearer, ' ' Dost thou believe on 
the Son of God ?" And there can be but one an- 
swer, Yes or No. If it cannot honestly be Yes, it 
is No. God means and desires that it should be 
Yes in every case ; and blessed are they who can 
truly say, " Lord, I believe," with the same con- 
fidence of this poor man. It was a world of 
consolation and happiness to him, and it is the 
same for every soul so taught and helped by the 
Spirit. Even feeble faith, which can say no more 
than, ' ' Lord, I believe, help Thou mine unbe- 



I70 THE SUPREME INQUIRY. 

lief," is full of promise and joyful hope, and, if 
devoutly nourished, will not fail to bring the soul 
into touch with Jesus and His salvation. But 
those who cannot so answer have the most mo- 
mentous matter of their lives yet to be attended 
to. And surely this question of the Saviour 
should make them think about it, and start them 
on the great work of seeking the Kingdom of God 
and His righteousness. 

Dear friends, some of you are in the morning 
freshness of your lives. This then is your most 
favorable time to be about this important busi- 
ness. The word of the Master is, "They that 
seek me early shall find me." While the heart 
and memory are receptive, the affections warm, 
the thronging cares and troubles of life yet few 
and distant, and the soul not yet set in its habits, 
is of all time the best and most hopeful for learn- 
ing to love and believe in Jesus. O let it not be 
wasted in wilfull neglect ! 

Some of you have passed the meridian of your 
day. You are therefore verging on a time when 
you will most need the consolations of a mature 
Christian faith, and when the absence of it will 
be to you a sore privation. So long a life with 
no Saviour in it ! So near eternity, and no prep- 
' aration for it ! So blest with opportunities, and 
all neglected ! So helpless and unpardoned with- 
out Christ, and yet no faith to assure the soul of 
His saving mercies ! This is a condition so de- 
plorable that we should think it impossible for a 
rational man or woman to risk it. Do you then 



SECOND SUNDAY IN LENT. 171 

believe on the Son of God ? If not, your chance 
is rapidly passing away. 

For all of us, like for this man, Jesus has done 
great things. You put great value on the liberty, 
the civilization, the intelligence, the beneficent 
laws, and the many other blessings and advan- 
tages which distinguish the country in which you 
live. But these all are traceable to Christ. They 
are from the spirit infused into mankind by His 
teachings and religion. Things were not always 
so, and are not so where Christianity has had no 
sway. Even the wicked and most indifferent 
among us are thus reaping vast benefits which 
Jesus, by the planting and influence of His King- 
dom, has conferred. And how unreasonable and 
ungrateful that there should be so little asking 
after Him, so little reverence for His Name, so 
little care to please Him, so little faith in One 
who is the source of all the good we enjoy, or ever 
can enjoy. 

O careless, prayerless, and unbelieving children 
of His gracious providence ! Be admonished, and 
see to it that ye believe on the Son of God. 



f^eabenlg g>gmpatf)g. 

Third Sunday in Lent. 




I say unto you, There is joy in the presence of the angels of God 
over one sinner that repenteth. — Luke 15 : 10. 

" HIS text stands like a cut diamond among 
gems. It is so full of light on every 
side that one cannot look at it without 
being struck with its peculiar brilliancy. 
A distinguished English preacher has expressed 
his doubts whether the whole compass of holy 
writ affords a text of intenser brightness or more 
touching interest. 

First of all, it introduces us to the most exalted 
orders of created beings, — to those elder sons in 
the great family of God who sprang from His 
creative power before our world was made, — 
to seraphic principalities and powers, immortal 
spirits, princely lights, ever burning sons of glory, 
that make up the equipage of Eternal Majesty. 

Next, it tells of gladness and rejoicing on the 
part of these celestial orders. They sang and 
shouted when the world was made. They lighted 
and cheered the plains of Bethlehem with their 
glory and their chantings when the Christ was 
born. John in vision saw and heard them filling 



THIRD SUNDAY IN LENT. 1 73 

immensity with their mighty Halleluias at the 
great consummation. But here was quite another 
matter; not the creation of a world nor the birth 
of a Saviour, but only the repentance of a poor, 
sinful man. And yet, these sublime intelligences 
rejoice over it. What then must be the signifi- 
cance and worth of one man's penitence that it 
renders heaven jubilant? 

In order to enter somewhat into the meaning 
of this presentation, let us consider what a sin- 
ner is. 

This is not always understood and weighed as 
it should be. When we speak of sinners we are 
apt to have before our minds only the lowest, 
most degraded, and least worthy of all the human 
family. Talk of sinners, and we think of none 
but the most repulsive of our race, the pests and 
outcasts of society, who hardly deserve to live. 
But this is a very crude way of looking at the 
matter. 

What is a sinner ? Whatever else may be said 
of him, he is a being created in the image of 
God;— a soul framed for communion with heaven 
and endowed with capacities for development into 
eternal life and blessedness; — a living creature, 
meant to shine in splendors of intelligence and 
glory when stars have faded, and capable of 
growth and progress in Godwardness without 
limit or end; — an offspring of Deity, concerning 
whose creation there was counselling among the 
eternal Powers, and it was said, ' ' Let us make 
man in our image, after our likeness." 



174 HEAVENLY SYMPATHY. 

Furthermore, a sinner is this sublimely capaci- 
tated creature seduced from rectitude, betrayed 
into sin, involved in guilt, made a slave to evil, 
and brought under penalty of death temporal and 
eternal. A sinner is like a star of the morning 
overtaken with calamity, eclipsed, humiliated, 
cast down into depths of shame and condemna- 
tion, and on the way to become a total wreck. 

What is a sinner? He is this noble creation, 
captured and in helpless bondage, yet considered 
in heaven, pitied of God, and made the object of 
a plan of mercy and salvation which the angels 
desired to look into; — a plan of mercy and salva- 
tion which included the incarnation, life, teach- 
ings, sufferings, death, resurrection, and heavenly 
administrations of the Son of God. The sinner 
here is a humiliated, damaged, benighted, ailing 
convict, disinherited of his primal estate, exiled 
from Paradise, tossing amid the vicissitudes, trials, 
and perturbations of a world on which the curse 
has fallen; but not yet abandoned to the desola- 
tions and horrors of eternal doom. For him and 
his deliverance there are still unspeakable anxiety, 
interest, and activity, both in heaven and on 
earth. Christ at the head of all power, a Provi- 
dence in its course, the Spirit of God in manifold 
operations, angels in their varied ministrations, 
holy men and ministries of God in this world, — 
all are in ceaseless effort to recover perishing man 
to life, holiness, and eternal salvation. 

From this, then, we may form some idea of 
who and what a sinner is. 



THIRD SUNDAY IN LENT. 1 75 

Let us consider next what the Repentance of a 
sinner is; for this is the particular subject of the 
angelic joy of which the Saviour speaks. 

The meaning of the word ' ' repentance ' ' covers 
a change of mind, a change of heart, and a change 
of life. It implies a thorough awakenment to the 
deplorable condition induced by sin, and to the 
guilt and condemnation it has incurred. It im- 
plies compunction, alarm, and distress on account 
of these, and dread of deserved and impending 
wrath. It signifies a looking back with painful 
regret upon the past life of alienation from God, 
and the ill-bartering away of the soul for the 
vanities and pursuits of the carnal and unsanc- 
tified. It means earnest and honest turning from 
the old careless, prayerless, and sinful way of 
living to accept the forgiveness proffered through 
Christ, and to obey, follow, and honor Him as our 
gracious Lord and Redeemer. It is the effectual 
shining into the soul of the illuminating and 
moving Spirit of God through the Law and the 
Gospel, awakening a sense of danger and guilty 
need, creating an appreciation of the unspeakable 
goodness and grace of the heavenly Father, and 
begetting a willing, grateful, and persevering pur- 
pose and effort to live to His honor and praise. 

What, then, is a repentant sinner? It is an 
alien, benighted, and damaged soul, by God's 
grace recovering from its delusion, insanity, and 
sad captivity to lust, self, and Satan. It is a 
noble creation of divine wisdom and goodness 
being extricated from the jaws of eternal ruin. 



1^6 HEAVENLY SYMPATHY. 

It is the rebel and apostate being restored to the 
estate of loyal citizenship and reconsecration, — 
the long-demented one being clothed once more 
in his right mind. It is the guilty and wretched 
prodigal brought back to his injured but loving 
Father's home. It is the lost child found, — the 
dead one rebegotten to proper life, — the imperilled 
soul reborn into the blessed family of heaven. 

From this we may begin to see why there would 
likely be "joy in the presence of the angels of 
God over one sinner that repenteth. ' ' Angels are 
happy and dutiful subjects of Jehovah, and con- 
cerned most of all about what relates to the honor 
and glory of His Name and Kingdom. They are 
beings full of tender benevolence toward the de- 
luded, distressed, and helpless; and they cannot 
but be gladdened by the snatching of souls from 
the eternal burnings. 

The angels are everywhere represented as in- 
tensely interested in the divine plan of grace, 
watching its development and progress and pleased 
with every instance of its success; and every re- 
pentant sinner is to them a forepledge of the great 
triumph, — an immortal jewel won for the crown 
of their Lord. 

Angels know the connection between repent- 
ance and spiritual life, — between the changes in 
the heart and standing of a true penitent and the 
glorious immunities of the Kingdom of God, — 
between the awakenment, turning, and submission 
of a sinner and the eternal blessedness; and in 
every instance of the one they behold a blessed 



THIRD SUNDAY IN LENT. I J J 

earnest of the other. How can they be otherwise 
than joyous over every sinner that repenteth? 
And the practical proof of their joy is given in 
this, that they are all ministering spirits, doing 
manifold and willing service to those who thus 
become heirs of salvation. 

But now let us consider further, The purpose 
for which our Saviour made this particular state- 
ment. 

From the context it is plain that it was given 
in answer to the accusation made against Him by 
the captious Jews. They denounced Him as a 
bad man because He received sinners and ate 
with them; and this was part of His answer to 
that charge. And a just and very complete answer 
it was. Were not the holy angels good? And 
if it is a matter of joy to them when even "one 
sinner" repents, why should He be blamed and 
regarded as profane for welcoming these poor 
despairing outcasts, who came nocking to Him, 
eager to hear His gracious words, behold His mer- 
ciful works, and share His saving goodness? 

But it was further meant as an argument to 
convict and shame these heartless malignants. It 
was as much as to say to them: "If God's holy 
angels rejoice over one repenting sinner, what un- 
heavenly creatures are ye to condemn My kind- 
ness to these burdened souls so anxious to be 
taught the way to eternal life." It was the cita- 
tion of a heavenly truth which not only vindicated 
His conduct as embodying the very spirit of 
heaven, but revealed the base uncharity of their 



I78 HEAVENLY SYMPATHY. 

hearts and the shameful injustice of their hos- 
tility. 

It is not worth while for men to undertake to 
fault the Christ, nor to reason out a case to convict 
Him of a mistaken goodness ; for they are sure to 
get the worst of it. 

It was also intended by this citation to show 
the heavenly dignity of the work of bringing sin- 
ners to repentance. It may seem foolish to the 
philosophy of this world to lay so much stress on 
the preaching and the efforts made to win care- 
less sinners to Christ and salvation ; but it is a 
work in the spirit of angels and in the spirit of 
Jesus, — a work which gladdens heaven by every 
item of its success. 

Much is made in this world of advancement in 
knowledge, art, commerce, and civil liberty, — of 
the glory of wise statesmanship, the honoring of 
heroes, and the upbuilding of empires. But these 
are not the things that most enlist the contempla- 
tions and sympathies of angels. According to our 
sublimest Guide and only Saviour, the bringing 
of a single soul to genuine repentance is a greater 
achievement, and more delights heaven, than all 
any worldly savant, statesman, or philosopher ever 
accomplished or can accomplish. Earth's heroes 
and sages may for the time gladden nations here ; 
but he who succeeds in winning a sinner to God 
gladdens heaven and eternity. 

Nay, still more was this citation meant to as- 
sure us, and all burdened and guilty souls, how 
ready and willing Jesus is to receive sinners. It 



THIRD SUNDAY IN LENT. 1 79 

really proclaims Him the special friend of the 
sinful, ailing, and needy, who seek His favor. It 
re-echoed as well as vindicated His word: "Come 
unto Me, all ye that labor and are heavy laden, 
and I will give you rest." He knows what sin is, 
— what corrosions it begets in the heart, — what 
an evil thing and bitter it is to depart from God 
and righteousness, — what utter hopelessness ob- 
scures the outlook of the guilty without His re- 
deeming mercy, — and hence it is His pleasure, 
and the delight of angels, when even one of these 
alien and sorrowing ones is brought to repent- 
ance. 

See, then, dear friends, what wonderful interest 
is felt for us sinful mortals, even in the highest 
worlds. All heaven is concerned and anxious to 
have every one of us turned from our sins, — our 
unbelief, — our neglect of God, — our prayerless- 
ness, — our indifference to the great and pressing 
wants of our souls. The everlasting Father in 
His goodness and mercy, the everlasting Son in 
His unceasing love and compassion, the eternal 
Spirit in His ever-gracious ministrations, and the 
holy angels in anxious sympathy, are profoundly 
concerned for us. And the toiling Church, in un- 
tiring activities of instruction, admonition, en- 
treaty, prayer, and every variety of endeavor, is 
moved by the one great and absorbing wish to 
have us turned from the evil that is in and about 
us to Him who alone can save. Nor can we 
thoughtfully contemplate the facts without feel- 



l8o HEAVENLY SYMPATHY. 

ing that here is matter so momentous in signifi- 
cance that it is supremest madness and supremest 
crime for any one to disregard it. 

O ye prayerless neglectors of your souls and 
your God, regarding your own selfish ease and 
pleasure more than to be in accord with heaven 
and participant in the redemption that is in Christ 
Jesus: Is there nothing in all this to make you 
think upon your careless ways? It is now, by 
divine grace, within your power to make the holy 
angels glad and to secure a destiny the equal of 
theirs. Your own earnest and heartfelt repent- 
ance out of your negligence and unconcern will 
do it. And why not imitate the prodigal as he 
came to himself, and say, "I will arise and go to 
my Father, and will say unto him, Father, I have 
sinned against Heaven, and before Thee, and am 
no more worthy to be called Thy son?" Saying 
and doing this, with a good and honest heart, you 
will send a thrill of joy through celestial orders, 
and put you on the way to become like them. 
And now is your time. 

God help us all to be genuine penitents ! 



®f)e JBluntticent g>abiour* 

Fourth Sunday in Lent. 




When Jesus then lifted up His eyes, and saw a great company 
come unto Him, He saith unto Philip, Whence shall we buy bread, 
that these may eat? — Jno. 6:5. 

'HE first thing I note in this text is a 
great crowd of people greatly interested 
in Jesus. He had just come from a se- 
vere conflict with the captions and ma- 
lignant Jews, and had retired with His disciples 
into a desert place to "rest awhile." But His 
movements were watched, and the people from 
the towns and villages along the shores of the sea 
of Galilee joined each other in a general move- 
ment to follow Him into His retreat. About five 
thousand men were in the crowd, jostling each 
other in their hurry and press to come where He 
was, that they might see and hear Him. 

Some, doubtless, were moved by mere idle cu- 
riosity, or by the general stir. The community 
always abounds with people ready to run and gape 
whenever something unusual occurs, although 
seldom profited by what they learn. Having seen 
and told their story, they are ready for the next 
new sensation. Some people can hardly live ex- 
ist 



102 THE MUNIFICENT SAVIOUR. 

cept in some sort of excitement, for which they 
are prompt to sacrifice everything. 

But, in general, this crowd of people was not 
of that empty and idle-minded class. More seri- 
ous considerations were moving them. The 
preaching of John the Baptizer had made a deep 
impression on the whole nation, and awakened an 
anxious looking for that illustrious Messiah and 
Judge whose coming and presence he had so posi- 
tively announced. Many had also come to the 
belief or suspicion that this Jesus was that very 
One of whom John and all the prophets had spo- 
ken. His words, works, and wonders had deep- 
ened this feeling and produced a general stir on 
the subject. And when He was known to be in 
the vicinity the community around, almost as 
one man, arose and sought to make its way to 
Him. 

Nor can I otherwise than admire and commend 
these people for their zealous interest in Jesus. 
He was altogether worthy of their profound atten- 
tion, as of that of all that live. He was the most 
marvellous and wonderful Being that had ever 
appeared in human flesh and blood, the greatest 
teacher, preacher, and wonder-worker that ever 
set foot upon earth. And why should not they, 
as all men, be profoundly interested in One who 
spake as never man spake, who had power to 
heal their sick and raise their dead, and who 
showed by all His acts that He had come forth 
from God, and had upon Him the favor of God? 
Another character, so unique, so preeminently 



FOURTH SUNDAY IN LENT. 1 83 

worthy of attention, or that so supremely chal- 
lenges the regard and study of rational man, had 
not before been shown in our world. And all 
history since their day has set the seal of wisdom 
and right on the zeal of these people to see and 
hear this marvellous Personage. It was the Won- 
der of the ages that attracted them. His life and 
career present a problem of momentous import, 
the proper solution of which involves the deepest 
interests and the highest possibilities of the whole 
human race. No just philosophy nor system of 
human thinking can afford to pass Him by. Nor 
has there ever been a solid explanation of the 
facts concerning Him, except that which was so 
reverently confessed by Peter, when he said, 
"Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God" 
— "Thou hast the words of eternal life." 

What better, worthier, or wiser thing, then, 
could these people have done, when opportunity 
presented, than sacrifice convenience and all other 
claims to use their chance to meet, and see, and 
hear this great and glorious Messiah of God? 
The wonder is rather that so many who know 
of Him, whence He came, and for what He 
lives and reigns, give themselves so little con- 
cern about Him. O the unwisdom of neglecting 
the Christ ! 

A second thing I note in the text is, the interest 
of Christ in those interested in Him. He once 
said, " Him that cometh unto Me, I will in no 
wise cast out;" and here was a marked exem- 
plification of that saying. If at any time He 



184 THE MUNIFICFNT SAVIOUR. 

might reasonably seclude himself, it was at this 
time. He had gone into remote retirement, worn, 
wearied, and seeking a little rest; but He inter- 
posed no barricades against intrusive approaches. 
He gave no orders to His disciples to warn 
away the invading multitude. He showed no 
unwillingness or reluctance to receive all that 
might come. Nay, when this crowd of eager 
seekers were yet at a distance from Him He 
lifted up His eyes upon them, thought of their 
wants, and began to prepare for their entertain- 
ment. 

And so He is ever ready to receive all who come 
unto Him. His interest and sympathy go out 
toward those who are interested in Him. When 
yet afar off, His attention is enlisted and His 
eyes are lifted upon them. He sees and knows 
what is going on in their hearts; what desires and 
estimates are moving them ; what hindrances they 
have to overcome; and is already concerned about 
their comfort and peace. Retirement and rest 
are nothing to Him, when perishing souls are 
hungering and thirsting for light and salvation. 
Had He consulted His own repose, He would 
have remained in the glory which He had with 
the Father before the world was, and never taken 
upon Him the humiliation, burdens, and woes re- 
quired for the working out of our salvation. But 
it was His love for man that moved Him. He 
was in the world thus to minister. He came to 
seek and to save that which was lost; and it 
was not in Him to deny himself to any earnest 



FOURTH SUNDAY IN LENT. 1 8$ 

comers, whatever needed rest as a man He might 
have to forego. 

Yes, dear friend, the eyes of Jesus are lifted 
and open toward you, even in your most hidden 
thoughts about your soul's salvation. That secret 
anxiety in your hours of solitude, — those sighs of 
spirit over the question of what is to become of 
you when done with this world, — those longings 
for surer knowledge and greater nearness to God 
and the only Saviour, — those inward promptings 
to try to be a better man or a better woman, — those 
frequent wishes that you were a Christian, and 
struggles with self and circumstances about be- 
coming one, — those disturbing doubts and fears, 
unbreathed to men, as you were made to think 
of death and eternity, — those little attempts at 
prayer, and occasional resolves and promises to 
seek the Kingdom of God and His righteous- 
ness, — and all those conflicting and unsettled feel- 
ings working often in your breast, — He under- 
stands full well. His Spirit has created them, 
and He has been looking all the while for the 
outcome of full surrender to Him. That reflec- 
tion on the unsatisfactoriness of your past, — that 
slightly quickened attention to the preached word, 
while half afraid that it will demand more than 
suits your wishes, — that timid doubtfulness and 
dread which have held you back when thinking 
to come to a final decision, — that hesitating con- 
sent to take the step which yet is not taken, — all 
has been under the interested eyes of Jesus, as He 
looks forth to welcome you to His presence and 



1 56 THE MUNIFICENT SAVIOUR. 

favor. Yea, His great heart yearns over every 
awakened and anxious soul. He is interested in 
those who are in any way interested in Him. 

A third particular I note from the text is, that 
great good comes to those who come to Christ. Be- 
fore this great company reached Him, and from 
the moment He saw them coming, He began to 
speak and arrange for their comfort. What He 
said to Philip had nothing directly to do with the 
provision made ; but it showed that the Saviour 
was concerned about the matter, and already had 
in mind what He meant to do. He received 
them kindly ; He preached to them ; and He 
wrought one of His greatest and most convincing 
miracles for their benefit. They saw the Lord ; 
they heard His words ; and they each had satisfy- 
ing proof of His beneficent kindness and creative 
power. They were given plentiful provision for 
their bodies, and joyous nutriment for their souls. 
Nor is there any thing else with so much promise 
in it as coming to the Lord Jesus. 

A compassionate Preserver of His people is 
Jesus. He careth for their bodily life and com- 
fort as well as for their spiritual wants. In this 
case He took a small barley loaf into His hand 
and broke it ; and it enlarged in the breaking, and 
became sufficient to feed a thousand men seated 
and waiting to receive it. The whole multitude 
were thus served and filled. This showed that 
the hand of Jesus had in it all the fecundity of 
the earth, and all the excellence of power by 



FOURTH SUNDAY IN LENT. 1 8/ 

which our harvests are produced and our bread 
supplied. And while He thus fed their bodies, 
He was at the same time feeding their faith and 
filling them with a double benediction. Their 
hunger was satisfied ; and their hearts were con- 
vinced. They said, "This is of a truth that 
prophet that should come into the world. ' ' Yea, 
so overwhelming was the glad demonstration that 
they were determined to crown Him on the spot, 
whether He would or no. 

But He had. better things for them, which had 
to be wrought out in a different way. They had 
debts to the law, which they could not pay ; and 
sins to be cancelled, which required the shedding 
of His blood ; and a way to heaven needed to be 
opened for them, which could only be by His 
resurrection and celestial enthronement. Accord- 
ingly, He avoided the outburst of their patriotic 
enthusiasm that He might procure for them a 
higher blessedness. 

Our salvation requires more than an earthly 
king, however great or wonderful His power. 
We need a spiritual Saviour — a propitiation for 
our sins, a righteous advocate with the Father, 
and a heavenly I^ord to minister repentance, re- 
mission of sins, and life everlasting. Hence while 
moved with tenderest interest for our earthly com- 
fort and welfare, Jesus refused that earthly crown- 
ing that He might be to us "wisdom, righteous- 
ness, sanctification, and redemption." 

And that world to come, of which He spoke so 
much, — that realm into which He as the Fore- 



l88 THE MUNIFICENT SAVIOUR. 

runner hath entered, — that better country, and 
heavenly, to which the pious in all the ages have 
aspired. — that inheritance incorruptible, unde- 
nted, and that fadeth not away, — those crowns 
that never dim, and powers that never decay, and 
pleasures that never pall, and glories which no 
earthly language can describe, — that home of the 
good, where they live and reign with their God 
and Redeemer, and all tears are dried, and death 
and sorrow and pain never come, — all these, and 
more than human thought can compass, the ador- 
able Jesus hath in reserve for them that come to 
Him. 

And yet another thing I note in the text is, the 
wise example set by these people. Jesus was in 
their neighborhood. They knew not how long 
He would remain, nor whether He would ever re- 
turn after He should leave. This was, therefore, 
their golden opportunity to see, and hear, and 
satisfy themselves with regard to this wonderful 
man. And they energetically seized upon their 
opportunity. 

Xor does our situation differ much from theirs. 
The Christ has come. Report of Him has gone 
abroad assuring us of His nearness. He is within 
the reach of every one. It is now in our power 
to find Him. Our opportunity is here. How long 
it may last no one can tell. If we would come to 
the Saviour, the present is our chance. To-mor- 
row may be too late. Consultation of our own 
ease may bring loss that never can be retrieved. 
And our truest wisdom in the case is to imitate 



FOURTH SUNDAY IN LENT. ISO, 

the conduct of these Galilean people, act with 
vigor while we can, seek the Lord while He may 
be found, and call upon Him while He is near. 
Otherwise we risk eternal failure. 

If there were any other hope for us, the matter 
would not be so urgent; but everything depends 
on Jesus, and our coming to Him. Allowing 
Him to go unsought, we neglect the sublimest 
privilege that can ever come to mortal man, and 
impose a sad privation on ourselves, and a loss for 
which nothing can compensate. This, then, is 
our time for action. Another such a time we may 
never have. 

Dear friends, these truths are not unfamiliar to 
your ears. You have been hearing of this won- 
drous Son of Man, His gracious doings and saving 
offices, from your earliest recollection. And the 
very familiarity of the presentations may have 
dulled and deadened your interest in them. Many 
tire of what they call the humdrum of the faith- 
ful pulpit. But, let me say to you, one and all, 
that nothing worthier of your devoutest attention 
and most earnest solicitude ever came to your 
ears. Many kings and righteous men have de- 
sired to see what ye see, and have not seen them ; 
and to hear what ye hear, and have not heard 
them. And if the tidings of the nearness of the 
Saviour in all His compassion and saving great- 
ness have thus far fallen dead upon your hearing, 
awakening no anxious desire for His favor, arous- 
ing no activity to profit by His presence and 
power; the time is here for you to break up your 



I9O THE MUNIFICENT SAVIOUR. 

dull indifference, and apply at once to Him who 
alone can give the bread of life, or save from an 
eternal starvation. Is it wise ? — is it right ? — is 
it not a thing of infinite blame and guilty stupid- 
ity — for any one to spend a lifetime serving vain 
fancies, and letting the only chance of salvation 
go ? And of how many who are listening to me 
now has the blessed Jesus been obliged to say in 
sad complaint, * ' Ye will not come unto Me that 
ye might have life." Yet, to this present He 
tarries and waits to be gracious ! O the folly 
and guilt of men ! the goodness they slight ! the 
mercies they disregard ! the opportunities they set 
at naught ! 



W^t aikabatling ©ffrang. 

Fifth Sunday in Lent. 




For if the blood of bulls and of goats, and the ashes of an heifer 
sprinkling the unclean, sanctifieth to the purifying of the flesh : how 
much more shall the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit 
offered himself without spot to God, purge your conscience from dead 
works to serve the living God. — Heb. 9:13, 14. 

i]HEN called to deal with such a text as 
this a certain class of teachers begin by 
admonishing us very self-complacently 
to separate ourselves entirely from all 
theological systems, even of the most orthodox 
divines, and go directly to the great Shepherd 
himself. This sounds well; but is not so much 
from desire to bring out the true heart and essence 
of the Gospel, as to get rid of what does not agree 
with their preconceived notions. They would 
have us avoid orthodox systems, in order to make 
room for some system of their own which is not 
orthodox. Accordingly, instead of leading us, 
as they say, from stagnant and muddy pools of 
human tradition to the translucent river of more 
independent thought, they land us in the quag- 
mires of an errant rationalism, where there is 
neither orthodoxy nor any genuine Gospel. And 

191 



192 THE ALL-AVAILING OFFERING. 

if we are not to heed and believe the clear testi- 
mony of such inspired men as the Apostle Paul 
and the writer of this Epistle, we might as well 
cast our Bibles into the fire and make common 
cause with skeptics and infidels. 

But not so readily can we consent to drop out 
of our holy faith what is everywhere so fully 
taught in the New Testament and so elaborately 
foreshadowed in the symbolisms of the old — 
namely, that forgiveness of sins is only through 
the blood-shedding of Christ, and eternal life 
only through His atoning sacrifice. Nor need we 
go any further than the text before us to vin- 
dicate and justify the faith of all orthodox be- 
lievers from the beginning until now. 

First of all, we are here introduced to a very 
wonderful and worshipful Personage, whose proper 
dignity forbids His being ranked with dependent 
creatures. He is called "the Christ;" which 
means "The Anointed," as only priests and kings 
were anointed. Elsewhere in this Epistle He is 
described by the highest terms known to our lan- 
guage. He is spoken of as the Son of God ; the 
heir of all things ; the Maker of the worlds ; the 
effulgence of the Father's glory; to whom the 
Father gives the name of God, as when ( ' to the 
Son He saith, Thy throne, O God, is for ever and 
ever." He is repeatedly called "The Lord," and 
is proclaimed to us as " the same yesterday, and 
to-day, and for ever." And yet, with all, He is 
a true man. The word is that, "As the children 
are partakers of flesh and blood, He also himself 



FIFTH SUNDAY IN LENT. 1 93 

took part of the same, ' ' and was ' i made like unto 
His brethren, that He might be a merciful and 
faithful High Priest." Yes, a true man, but 
verily a God-man. And this we get, not from 
the muddy ponds of human reasonings, but from 
the limpid stream of the divine Word, given by 
inspiration of God, out of which we will not suffer 
ourselves to be defrauded by the cunning crafti- 
ness of men nor by philosophy falsely so called. 

Next, we are here certified of the great Gospel 
truth, that this wonderful God-man, — this Son of 
the Eternal in human flesh and blood, — volunta- 
rily gave himself to a sacrificial death for our re- 
demption. 

There are people who have no place for this 
truth, although the words are plain as words can 
be. The invincible statement here is that this 
Christ, as our great High Priest, offered Himself 
without spot to God, as a sacrifice and payment 
to Eternal Majesty and justice for our sins, and to 
procure for us standing as accepted servants of the 
living God. In the first chapter of this Epistle it 
is written that " He by himself purged our sins." 
In the next chapter it is written that He "was 
made a little lower than the angels for the suffer- 
ing of death ; that He by the grace of God should 
taste death for every man ; that through death he 
might destroy him that had the power of death, 
that is, the devil, and deliver them who were all 
their lifetime subject to bondage." So again in 
the lesson before us the word is, that " neither by 
the blood of goats and calves, but by His own 

13 



194 THE ALL-AVAILING OFFERING. 

blood, He entered once into the Holy Place, 
having obtained eternal redemption for us." And 
to this it is added, " Christ was once offered to 
bear the sins of many ;" that when He came into 
the world He said, " Lo, I come to do Thy will, 
O God, by the which will we are sanctified 
through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ 
once for all ;" and that " by the blood of Jesus " 
we now have "liberty to enter into the Holiest 
by a new and living way which He hath conse- 
crated for us through His flesh. ' ' And if this is 
not enough, take the declaration of the Saviour 
himself, where He says, ' ' this is my body, which 
is broken for you . . . this is my blood, which is 
shed for many for the remission of sins." Noth- 
ing of this is from human systems nor from man's 
lucubrations ; but from the pure oracles of God, 
which everywhere give testimony to the doctrine 
of the vicarious and atoning death of Christ and 
salvation through His blood. 

But we have here the still further assurance of 
the abundant efficacy of our Saviour's offering of 
himself. This is strongly brought out by com- 
parison and contrast with the old ceremonial ob- 
servances, which were not mere empty rites. 
They were efficacious to the ends for which they 
were intended. Although they were "carnal or- 
dinances, imposed until the time of reformation, " 
they were divinely appointed. They were "fig- 
ures for the time then present," — types of better 
things to come. Of themselves they "could not 
make him that did the service perfect, as pertain- 



FIFTH SUNDAY IN LENT. I95 

ing to the conscience;" but they did serve for 
ceremonial and bodily purification. Nay, they 
had in them something of spiritual profit also; for 
the promises of God were connected with them. 
Worthless apart from what they typified, they yet 
had a divine consecration to a purpose which they 
did not fail to subserve. And so, with an invin- 
cible logic, the writer here argues, if these observ- 
ances availed, — "If the blood of bulls and of 
goats, and the ashes of an heifer sprinkling the 
unclean, sanctifieth to the purifying of the flesh, 
how much more shall the blood of Christ, who 
through the eternal Spirit offered himself without 
spot to God, purge your consciences from dead 
works to serve the living God ? ' ' 

Here is an admeasurement of the efficacy of 
Christ's atonement which is completely over- 
whelming. How shall we figure it out ? There 
was important virtue in the old Levitical sac- 
rifices, though offered by men who had first to 
offer sacrifice for their own sins, before they could 
offer for the sins of the people; but here the High 
Priest "is holy, harmless, undefiled, separate from 
sinners, and made higher than the heavens." 
The one was a carnal administration in an earthly 
and perishable tabernacle; but the other a spir- 
itual and heavenly, in " a greater and more per- 
fect tabernacle, not made with hands." Aaron's 
sons offered by material fire; Christ, "by the 
eternal Spirit." The old sacrifices had to be 
repeated year by year, for • the same need ever 
recurred; but Christ "by one offering hath per- 



Ip6 THE ALL AVAILING OFFEI 

fected for ever them that are sanctified. ' ' The an- 
cient priests offered the blood of brute beasts; but 
Christ ''offered himself," — "His own blood," — 
with which He "entered into heaven itself/' 
What are bulls and goats in comparison with the 
coequal and coeternal Son of God, so much bet- 
ter than angels, and the very effulgence of the 
Father's glory? O the depth and force of this 
argu:::e::t ! How can words reach or minds meas- 
ure the superior efficacy thus ascribe:, to the sac- 
rifice of Jesus? 

But there is another way of looking at it. We 
have here a specific statement of what Christ's 
offering to God through the eternal Spirit was 
meant to do, and truly does for man. 

11 The blood of Christ." in Scripture language, 
stands for His wmole offering in our behalf, — the 
crown of all His obedience and endurance for 
our sake; and it is here said to "purge the con- 
science. ' ' Conscience is the umpire which charges 
sin and guilt upon the soul, quite disabling any 
free approach to God or any acceptable divine 
service. Hence, the purging or purifying of the 
conscience can be nothing less than the doing 
away with the condemnation due to sin, and the 
cleansing of the soul from its pollution. Both 
justification and sanctification are necessarily in- 
cluded; and both are thus unequivocally ascribed 
to the atoning sacrifice of Christ as the procuring 
cause. Apart from that sacrifice, all works on 
our part are mere " dead works, ' ' which cannot 
answ 7 er for our past guilt, nor recommend us to 



FIFTH SUNDAY IN LENT. 1 97 

God. Everywhere the word is, that " the blood 
of Jesus Christ His Son cleanseth us from all 
sin ; " and if His blood does this, nothing else 
does it. And this it does first by adequate expia- 
tion and atonement, as represented by "the blood 
of bulls and of goats; " and then by a continued 
process of personal sanctification, as represented 
by the sprinkling of the ashes of, an heifer to 
purify the ceremonially unclean. 

Great and wonderful are the virtues and effects 
thus ascribed to the blood of Christ. It blots out 
all our transgressions, so that we stand as inno- 
cent, and no longer condemned before the Law. 
It puts.us in condition to render acceptable service 
to God. It opens for us a new and living way 
into the very Holy of holies. It gives us liberty 
to "come boldly unto the throne of grace, that 
we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in 
time of need." And it gives motion, impulse, 
and encouragement to "draw near with a true 
heart," purifying ourselves even as He is pure. 

Just how "the blood of Christ" operates to 
bring about these sublime and wonderful results, 
we may not be able in all respects to explain as 
earthly science may demand. The matters in- 
volved are so heavenly and beyond our power to 
trace their action and relations that they are nec- 
essarily mysterious. We cannot trace the whence 
or whither of the wind, much less the things of 
the Spirit of God. But it is not necessary that 
we should be able fully to comprehend or scien- 
tifically construe such divine transactions. Our 



I98 THE ALL-AVAILING OFFERING. 

business is to accept, believe, and rest on God's 
word, no matter whether we can adjust everything 
to our limited thinking or not. Bread will nourish 
us, though we know nothing of the processes of 
digestion. Medicine can relieve and cure, if we 
have the confidence to take it, although the man- 
ner of its action, and even the materials of which 
it is composed, may be beyond our knowledge or 
understanding. Many were healed by Christ's 
word, by the touch of His hand or His garment, 
or by clay made of His spittle, who never could 
explain the connection between the means and 
the cure. All they knew was, that virtue thus 
came out from Him which released them from 
their infirmities. And although the offering of 
the Saviour's blood may have mysteries which we 
cannot solve, that does not vitiate its reality or its 
saving virtue. Multitudes on multitudes are now 
in heaven, giving thanks to Him who "redeemed 
them to God by His blood," who lived and died 
in simple faith and trust in what the inspired 
Word declares, without knowing or troubling 
about the dynamics of the atonement or its 
mysterious forensic relations. It was enough for 
them to know, believe, and experience that "the 
blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit 
offered himself without spot to God," and not the 
dead works of man, can purge the conscience 
and help to develop a grateful, childlike, and 
acceptable service of the living God. In this was 
their joy and their salvation. Xor are we in need 
of anything more to give us peace in believing 



FIFTH SUNDAY IN LENT. 1 99 

and joy in the Holy Ghost. Simple faith in the 
Word will do the business. 

What use, then, dear friends, have you been 
making of these transcendant and most vital 
truths ? Do you believe them ? Are you resting 
your soul and grounding your hope upon them ? 
Are they to you the real heart and core of the 
Gospel you have accepted? Or are you among 
those who higgle at them, and doubt, and say you 
can't believe them, because unable to adjust them 
to your alleged understanding ? I pity the people 
who cannot believe " that Christ died for our sins 
according to the Scriptures," or who doubt that 
the Sinless One was ever ' ' made sin for us, that 
we might be the righteousness of God in Him." 
I pity those who think the ways of eternal Deity 
must be gauged, and his word revised and cor- 
rected, according to the taper light of their erring 
judgment. I pity them that they can find it in 
their hearts to tread under foot the Son of God, 
and count the blood of the covenant an unholy 
thing. I pity them for their non-acceptance of 
our adorable and only Mediator, and their refusal 
to accept "redemption through His blood." I 
pity them, because they "enter not by the door 
into the sheepfold," but think to "climb up some 
other way." God have mercy upon their hesi- 
tancy and unbelief, and turn their hearts to the 
only saving truth ! 

But these great truths may be mentally honored 
without affecting the soul or the life. There is 
such a thing as holding the truth in unrighteous- 



20O THE ALL-AVAILING OFFERING. 

ness. People may have a historical faith in 
Christ without realizing the overwhelming great- 
ness of His love, or feeling the need of His atone- 
ment, or cleaving to His cross for forgiveness and 
heaven. Let it not be so with us. We believe 
in God ; let us believe also in Jesus, — in the wor- 
shipful divinity of His person, in the sublime suf- 
ficiency of His mediation, in His perfect compe- 
tency to "save unto the uttermost them that 
come unto God by Him." We believe that Christ 
died for our sins, and rose again for our justifica- 
tion ; and let this be a vivid and ever-living real- 
ity to our souls, that we may feel the vastness of 
our obligation to His goodness and show the 
fruits of our faith in our service of the living God. 



©f)e iWountetr mug. 

Palm Sunday. 




Tell ye the daughter of Sion, Behold, thy King cometh unto thee, 
meek, and sitting upon an ass. —Matt. 21:5. 

i]OR the first time in His earthly history 
our Saviour here assumed the character 
of a King, — very humble indeed, but 
still a King, — a triumphing Hero and 
Ruler. He commands both men and beasts. He 
rides as a King. The multitudes hail Him as a 
King. Ancient prediction pointing to the occa- 
sion designated Him as Israel's King. And as a 
conquering King has been His career through the 
world ever since. 

Whatever men may think or say of Christ, or 
in whatever way they may try to dispose of His 
story, He is, and has been thus far, the greatest 
and most powerful personality in history, the cen- 
tre of the mightiest and divinest forces that ever 
penetrated the spirit or ruled the thinking and 
activities of man, the potent source of the grand- 
est moral, civilizing, and beneficent influences 
that ever affected the condition and career of our 
race. Even the coldest critics confess to a won- 

201 



202 THE MOUNTED KING. 

derful fascination and commanding power in trie 
presentations He makes ; and the most daring 
free thinkers, in spite of their unbelief, have 
again and again shown a beautiful reverence for 
His character and moral sublimity. 

In the instance before us Jesus is mounted. 
For the only time in His life He rides. Every- 
thing around Him is in boisterous commotion. 
He is entering a city filled with enemies. He is 
riding to His death. But He holds on His way 
as if all were calm and peaceful, and as undaunted 
as if the way were as open to Him as that of a 
star in the emptiness of space. And such has 
been His progress through time. Amid all the 
perturbations and revolutions of nations and ages 
He has simply ridden on in His meek majesty, 
nothing daunted by obstacles, — nothing doubting 
that the sovereignty of the world is His. 

Ever greater than the Church He founded, — 
greater than any movement within it, — greater 
than the greatest agents called into being for its 
service ; He has never wavered, never faltered, 
never failed. Through all the long history of the 
Church ; through all its fevers, conflicts, and de- 
pressions ; through all the defections within and 
antagonisms from without : He has stood as the 
invincible standard for the rallying of His people, 
"the same yesterday, to-day, and for ever." 

Great and many have been the impediments 
thrown in His way. The great heart of perverted 
humanity, in the full tide of its power, has been 
against Him as against everything divine. Its 



PALM SUNDAY. 203 

lust, and pride, and selfishness, and hatred of re- 
sponsibility has ever been in some sort marshalled 
to retard His progress. But on He rode, and on 
He still rides, and on He will ride till every knee^ 
shall bow and every tongue confess that He is 
Lord. 

Fickle and false have been many of His pro- 
fessed friends. Again and again has He been 
wounded by those of His own house. There have 
been generations of Judases to betray Him, of 
Peters to deny Him, and of disciples to desert 
Him. Often has He been sold for less and baser 
coin than thirty pieces of silver. But, with all, 
He still rode on, conquering and to conquer. 

Ridicule, mockery, and blasphemy have assailed 
Him in every age. Vast crowds of doubters, and 
skeptics, and foes, great and small, have sallied 
forth to crush Him. His every claim has been 
questioned, criticized, denied, and tossed hither 
and thither with wildest freedom and unbelief, 
His miracles denied or explained away, His teach- 
ings spurned, His Cross and Passion reduced to 
mere example or the result of mistaken ambi- 
tion, His glorious Resurrection and Ascension 
denounced as silly fables, artfully palmed upon 
the world. And yet, on He rode, and on He still 
rides, and on He will ride, till all His enemies 
are put beneath his feet. 

His progress in the past is pledge of His vic- 
torious progress in the future. Having conquered 
on so many fields, transforming fiercest enemies 
into willing allies, He is bound to ride on in tri- 



204 THE MOUNTED KING. 

umph to the end. A distinguished bishop has 
lately said, ' ' I tremble not with others at the 
breaking down in the present day of the ancient 
barriers erected against ungodliness, and the out- 
rush of waters of strife and unbelief and doubt; 
for I know that all this is an old story worn 
threadbare in the telling — a phase of opposition 
that in varied shape has occurred again and again, 
and will occur to the very end. But this I know, 
that no antagonism, however fierce or fatal, can 
crush out Christ. The fire of man's hatred can- 
not burn Him; the floods of man's strife cannot 
drown Him; the sword of man's wrath cannot 
pierce Him; the bitterness of man's tongue can- 
not injure Him; the wild vagaries of man's brain 
cannot weaken Him; because He is the Christ, 
the Son of the living God, the Almighty." 
Amid all antagonizing crowds and questionings 
milleniums fall behind Him, and no old foes re- 
vived, nor new ones springing up, can ever stay 
Him. On, on, He rides to-day, and will ride on, 
till He who lived, and died, and rose again, is 
hailed invincible Conqueror. 

It was in the midst of an exulting crowd that 
the royal Hero rode into Jerusalem. With many 
it was a mere sentimental enthusiasm, which de- 
parted with the day; but with others it was the 
utterance of deep, genuine, and adoring convic- 
tion. They saw in that mounted Hero the realiza- 
tion of some of their most solemn beliefs and 
most eager expectations. They beheld in Him 
a Messenger from heaven, even the triumphing 



PALM SUNDAY. 2C>5 

' ' Seed of the woman, ' ' the long-promised King 
of Israel. They believed in Him as their glorious 
Redeemer. They hailed Him with acclaim as 
the blessed Son of David, come in the Name of 
the Lord. And their exulting spirits turned to 
Him as the needle to the magnet, uttering song 
so true and genuine that if suppressed the very 
stones would have cried out. 

Jesus presented himself to them as the King of 
Salvation, and they joyfully and obediently ac- 
cepted Him. They fell in line to follow Him, 
and found in Him that great Messiah ' ' of whom 
Moses in the law and the prophets did write." 
And by the honest faith with which they thus 
embraced Him, from fishermen and taxgatherers 
they were transformed into the illustrious princes 
of His realm, lifted to apostolic thrones, and given 
a spiritual regency in a sublimer state than Plato 
ever imagined or Solon ever dreamed. Moved 
and sustained in their untiring activities by their 
faith in Him and by the quickening powers of 
His Word and Spirit, no poet or philosopher, 
warrior or statesmen, of the ancient world, ever 
did as much as they to create and nurture the 
better, higher, and more lasting elements of 
human virtue, civilization, and liberty. And 
while this world stands, neither poetry nor prose, 
eloquence nor song, will ever get done with the 
devout celebration of c< the glorious company of 
the Apostles. ' ' 

Nor has this King of Zion, in His ride through 
the centuries, ever failed to have a like following, 



206 THE MOUNTED KING. 

who rank with the noblest of their day and gen- 
eration, and numbers of whom have left a blessed 
impress on the world. Think of the Clements, 
the Chrysostoms, the Augustines, the Luthers, 
and a whole catalogue of mighty men of God, 
whose names the Church treasures among her 
choicest jewels, and whose inspiration, strength, 
and greatness came from their following of this 
meekly mounted Hero. A very zone of blessed 
light and joyous song has thus been pushing its 
way around this old earth of ours by means of 
the example, testimony, and ministrations of those 
to whom it was given to sing Hosanna to this Son 
of David. 

And it is for us, dear friends, to be among that 
joyful company, and to share a like blessedness. 
We too can make contribution to the glory of the 
King, and to the volume of happy song that ever 
attends His march. To this end He comes to us 
again in this solemn season of grace. The Al- 
mighty lifts up His finger and says to us, " Be- 
hold !"— " Behold, thy King cometh unto thee." 
Not with our natural eyes can we behold Him. 
Not as man paints royal majesty and beauty is 
He to be seen. Meek and humble is the man- 
ner of His approach. He comes not as a 
sombre Judge with sword and executioners; but 
in plan Records and easy Sacraments, — a Prince 
of Peace, — a merciful and compassionate Re- 
deemer. He comes, not to condemn and punish 
for our undutifulness and sins, but to pardon and 
release us through the merit of His cross, and 



PALM SUNDAY. 



207 



to bring us with songs and gladness into the 
heavenly Jerusalem. 

How then are we to become a part of that great 
and joyous procession extending through so many 
ages and so many lands, from Judea even to the 
ends of the earth? 

First of all, we must recognize in Jesus our 
divine Lord and Saviour. It is under this con- 
viction and belief that the whole procession moves. 
Its leadership, its centre, its joy, its inspiration, 
is " He who cometh in the Name of the Lord." 
And until we learn to know, appreciate, and 
honor Him as the meek and glorious King of 
Salvation, our place is not in that happy com- 
pany. 

Furthermore, our hearts must be attuned to the 
excellent song of these people. Zacharias led off 
in it when he said, " Blessed be the Lord God of 
Israel; for He hath visited and redeemed His 
people, and hath raised up a horn of salvation 
for us in the house of His servant David." The 
aged Simeon re-echoed it when he sang, "Lord, 
now lettest Thou Thy servant depart in peace, 
according to Thy word ; for mine eyes have seen 
Thy salvation." Mary voiced it, saying, "My 
soul doth magnify the Lord, and my spirit hath 
rejoiced in God my Saviour." Paul struck the 
grand keynote of it when He exclaimed, ' ' Thanks 
be to God, which giveth us the victory through 
our Lord Jesus Christ. " And all the myriad hosts 
gathering around the sacred altar have never 
ceased to sing it, as with angels, and archangels, 



208 THE MOUNTED KING. 

and all the company of heaven, they praised and 
magnified the glorious Name of the Eternal, say- 
ing, " Hosanna in the highest! Blessed is He 
that cometh in the Name of the Lord." And 
only as we learn that song, and keep it living in 
our hearts and on our tongues, are we of that 
blessed company, moving with the King to live 
and reign with Him in the City of God. 

How is it then with you, dear friends ? Have 
you learned to recognize and honor your rightful 
King and only Saviour? There be professed 
Christians who make more of a brutal ball-game 
than of a divine sacrament. Is that a following 
of Jesus ? There are people who are louder and 
heartier in their praises and laudations of victors 
in trials of muscle and carnal contests than over 
Him who conquered death and hell and opened 
for them the Kingdom of heaven. Is this a fol- 
lowing of Jesus? O the follies and hallucinations 
of people who fain would count themselves the 
children of God ! But to all the meek and for- 
bearing King comes once more, offering to be 
their Saviour and everlasting friend. He comes 
with free forgiveness and eternal life for every 
one who will receive Him. Open then your 
hearts and homes that He may enter. Receive 
Him, that He may cast 'out all alien powers, and 
become your everlasting Lord and Benefactor. 
And blessing, and honor, and glory be unto Him, 
both now and for ever ! Amen. 



Voiitx from tlje <£xo$$. 

Good Friday. 




When they came to the place, which is called Calvary, there they 
crucified Him. — Luke 18: 33. 

HOOD Friday brings before us the blessed 
Jesus, faint and weary under the weight 
of His cross, on the way to be nailed to 
it, and to die upon it. He trod that dol- 
orous way that we might have hope and consola- 
tion in our journey to our death. And on that 
cross He hung with arms outstretched to shelter a 
world of perishing souls. 

Seven times He spoke while hanging there. 
Those seven words form the Pleiades in the con- 
stellations of our faith, whose "sweet influences" 
no one can ever bind or destroy. 

As the nails were being driven, or as the lifted 
cross was dropped into its socket with the suffer- 
ing Saviour hanging upon it, He spoke and said, 
1 ' Father, forgive them ; for they know not what 
they do." It was not complaint, threatening, nor 
lament. It was a prayer,-- — not for himself, but 
for His cruel murderers, — for all His crucifiers, 
and so for us also, since our sins helped to drive 
those nails. How precious to know that we have 

14 209 



2IO VOICES FROM THE CROSS. 

a Saviour so merciful in His intercessions and so 
ready to forgive even His crucifiers ! 

But there were others crucified with Him. Two 
notorious malefactors are His companions in the 
affecting exhibit, the one on His right, the other 
on His left. By word and gesture, from rulers 
and rabble, much cruel mockery and reviling 
were hurled at Him as He hung upon the cross ; 
and these two wicked men at first took part in it. 
But the heart of one of them soon softened, and he 
began to take the Saviour's part. Having learned 
of the promised Christ as King, he called Him 
"Lord" even in those agonies, and prayed Him 
to be remembered when He should come into His 
Kingdom. Here was belated penitence and faith; 
but it was genuine ; and the gracious answer 
came from the suffering Saviour, ' ' Verily, I say 
unto thee, To-day shalt thou be with Me in Para- 
dise. ' ' 

It was a blessed assurance to a wicked man in 
the last extremity ; and it set up a monument of 
mercy to guilty penitents which has thrilled and 
comforted the hearts of myriads in all the ages 
since. And what a demonstration of the Saviour's 
divine power ! that, dying like a helpless mortal, 
He could open the gates of Paradise to a believing 
suppliant ! In such a Saviour we may well trust. 

Beneath that cross stood His heartbroken 
mother, with other sorrowing women. In com- 
pany with them was the Apostle John. And 
when Jesus saw her, and "the disciple whom 
Jesus loved," standing by, He spoke again, and 



GOOD FRIDAY. 211 

said, u Woman, behold thy son /" meaning John ; 
and to John, ' ' Behold thy mother ! ' ' 

His first word was a word of intercession for the 
guilty ; His second was a word of mercy and prom- 
ise to a believing penitent ; and His third was a 
word of filial tenderness and sympathy. As 
Christians, we have a spiritual mother, of which 
Mary was the representative. The same was also 
the mother of Jesus ; for He was born of the 
Church, "like unto His brethren!" And the 
dearest object of His love and sympathizing care 
is that "mother of us all." From His cross He 
made richest provision for this oft-sorrowing 
mother for all the period of her earthly life. 
With His dying words He committed that mother 
to our loving care. It was His last will and testa- 
ment as a man that He thus gave to John to exe- 
cute ; and it is His last will and testament to us as 
our Lord and Redeemer to care for, nurture, and 
protect the Church, from which we have our 
spiritual birth. 

And now the mystery of His Passion verged 
toward its close. The hour had come for the 
final payment of the price of human redemption. 
Nature grew dusky, black, and fearfully ominous. 
The jeering crowds dispersed in terror. The 
voice of taunt and mockery subsided into solemn 
awe. In silence, amid the blackness of a sunless 
day, the Saviour hung, wrestling with His ago- 
nies. And as the flaming wrath due to a race of 
sinners struck into His soul, He cried, with an 
awful cry : "Blot, Eloi, lama sabachthani — My 



2 I 2 VOICES FROM THE CROSS. 

God, my God, why hast Thou forsaken me!" 
What all that betokened only He who uttered it 
can ever know. It seemed like a cry of utter 
despair ; and yet it was not utter despair. It told 
of the dreadful experience of the Son of God as 
the hell of horrors due to our sins was emptied 
upon Him. Thought and reason are stunned and 
stupefied as we contemplate the mountain weight 
of agony expressed. 

And yet there comes from it the confirmation 
of the prophet's words, that His soul was made 
an offering for sin. Surely, here was adequate 
payment of our debt. And how, indeed, can any 
penitent sinner ever be lost for whom such a price 
has been paid ! — in whose behalf such a sacrifice 
has been offered ! 

But, with these burning fires drinking up His 
soul, His long- continued anguish, His losses of 
blood, His fevers of pain, and His parched body, 
the blessed Saviour spoke again. "Knowing 
that all things were now accomplished, that 
the Scripture might be fulfilled, He saith, l I 
thirst:" 

There is no keener bodily anguish than great 
thirst, and the suffering Saviour felt it to the full. 
Beginning with His bloody sweat in the garden, 
there had been a continuous drain upon all the 
moisture of His system with never a draught to 
cool His tongue. In His long and awful inward 
wrestling with the demands of justice the anguish 
of His body seemed lost ; but now that He had 
touched the bottom of His atoning grief and 



GOOD FRIDAY. 21 3 

reached the further side of His great spiritual 
conflict, the tortures of His physical condition 
asserted themselves. 

It was first a thirst for moisture for His fevered 
body ; but that was not all. It was also a thirst 
for God, who had so withdrawn himself. And it 
was furthermore a thirst for the consummation of 
those consolatory results for which He gave Him- 
self to these horrors. It was not a prayer, — not 
an appeal to God, nor to those watching by His 
cross. It was simply the utterance of a condition 
of torture and distress. Sour drink was put to 
His lips, and the light of the Father's favor again 
began to dawn upon Him ; but the thirst for the 
fruits of "the travail of His soul" continued, 
and still continues. It was a thirst for us to 
thirst for Him, and find redemption through His 
blood. Nor can we better refresh the Saviour's 
soul than by coming to Him to drink salva- 
tion, so dearly purchased and now so freely 
offered. 

And yet again He spoke. Having tasted the 
coarse draught put to His lips, He said, "It is 
finished." There is often a sudden waking up 
of energy in the dying ; and so it was in the dying 
Jesus. With a greater and louder voice, He ut- 
tered these words. There was a tone of triumph 
in them, though spoken out of the very article of 
death. What did they mean ? 

Many momentous things had been written by 
the prophets respecting these mysterious occur- 
rences. Many momentous things were made his- 



214 VOICES FROM THE CROSS. 

tory by them. And many momentous things, 
stretching through time and eternity, there took 
their start. And these words set His seal upon 
them as now virtually accomplished. ' ' Finished ' ' 
was all that was written, foreshadowed, and de- 
creed, concerning the humiliation of the Christ. 
1 ' Finished ' ' was all that the law required for the 
opening of the doors of salvation for a guilty race. 
"Finished" was everything for the evolution of 
His holy Church, the new creation, and the reign 
of eternal righteousness. Wide was the glance 
of the dying Jesus summed up in those brief 
words. From the covenant with the Father be- 
fore the world was — from the first promise down 
through all that the prophets had spoken — from 
the depths of His awful experiences up to the 
eternal glories to come of them — all was taken 
in, and the great Amen affixed. 

And with this ending of His earthly life there 
remained but one more word to be said. And 
that word was, "Father, into Thy hands I com- 
mend my spirit." He went upon the cross speak- 
ing the Father's Name, and He there ended life 
with that Name upon His lips. Obedient unto 
death, He could confidently commit His soul into 
that Father's hands, as the believing and faithful 
ever may. A vanishing instant of unconscious- 
ness, and He awoke among the blessed, to rest in 
Paradise till the Easter morning dawned. 

Aud so it is now appointed for all who trust 
to His gracious mediation. Serving Him while 
living, we shall go to Him when dying. And 



GOOD FRIDAY. 21 5 

under the ' ' sweet influences ' ' of these seven 
stars, that shine so serenely from our Saviour's 
cross, may we ever live, and have grace to carry 
us safely through this chilly night of time to the 
Paradise of God. 

. It is not death to die — 

To leave this weary road, 
And 'midst the brotherhood on high, 
To be at home with God. 



©aster- 

The Day of Gladness. 




This is the day which the Lord hath made ; we will rejoice and be 
glad in it. — Ps. 118 : 24. 

" HE Saviour of the world was dead. He 
had spoken His last word from the Cross. 
He had given up the Ghost. His body 
lay cold and lifeless in the sepulchre. 
A few believing women had gathered some fra- 
grant spices, and, as soon as they dared, hastened 
to that sepulchre at the early dawn to do honor to 
His remains. They came, thinking only of their 
loss, hoping only to get one more look upon the 
gracious countenance of the friend they so much 
loved. 

They came; but they found nothing as they 
expected. The heavy stone, which they feared 
would defeat their purpose, was rolled away. The 
sepulchre was open and empty. Their Lord was 
not there. Had He been stolen ? or what ? Ah, 
the power of God was there before them. The 
course of nature had been disturbed. Bonds 
were severed which never before were broken. 
Angels of glory were there. Voices from the 
other world were heard. The women were almost 



THE DAY OF GLADNESS. 217 

paralyzed with dread. The truth was, that a mo- 
mentous miracle had been wrought. A mighty- 
wonder had come to pass. An angel of God an- 
nounced it, saying, " Be not affrighted: Ye seek 
Jesus of Nazareth, which was crucified: He is 
risen /' ' And that return of the L,ord Jesus from 
the tomb is what gave being to our Easter Day, 
"the day which the Lord hath made." 

Since the world began, there never was another 
day like it. No other day ever made such a change 
in the hopes of man. No other day ever shed 
such blessed and enduring light over our be- 
nighted world. No other day of such sure and 
solid gladness to the dying children of men had 
ever dawned before. There had been numerous 
and joyous types of it; — as when righteous Noah 
looked forth upon the newly baptized world in 
which to live a happier and brighter life; — as 
when Abraham received back the Son of promise 
from under the doom of death; — as when Israel 
came up out of the Red Sea to sing the jubilant 
songs of an unexpected deliverance; — as when 
Jonah found himself once more in the land of 
the living. But these instances were all limited, 
temporary, and extended not beyond the present 
life. Easter Day brought deliverance, not for 
one person, one family, one people, or only for 
this life; but for all tribes of men, past, present, 
and to come, and stretching out through all 
eternity. 

Easter Day was a glorious day to the first dis- 
ciples; but it was not for them alone. When 



2 I 8 EASTER. 

they were gathered to their rest, others came to 
whom it was as great a joy. And it is the same 
to-day it ever was to any people. Bven to us 
upon whom the ends of the world have come, it 
is still as truly and as much a thing of triumphant 
gladness as to any who lived before us. Ages have 
not deadened its light, nor diminished its joyous- 
ness or its glory. The Resurrection of Jesus 
Christ from the dead, is still a potent and present 
fact, which can never lose its virtue or signifi- 
cance. It is a perpetual and never-failing spring 
of hope and strength to every generation of be- 
lievers. 

We know something of the force and meaning 
of what Easter Day has been and still is to the 
Church of God. We know how everything in 
our Christian faith and hopes rests upon it. The 
word of inspiration has long since taught us that 
"if Christ be not risen, then is our preaching 
vain, and your faith is also vain; and they also 
which have fallen asleep in Christ are perished !" 
We know the joyous stress which the Apostles 
and early Christians laid upon it, — the sublime 
courage and unfaltering persistence with which 
Paul preached it, clung to it, and rejoiced in it, — 
the exultant thankfulness of Peter for the abun- 
dant mercy of God vouchsafed by it, — the tri- 
umphing in it of the Church in all the ages. 

In grateful exultation 

Their notes let all things blend, 
For Christ the Lord is risen, 

Our joy that hath no end, 



THE DAY OF GLADNESS. 2 1 9 

was the song of John of Damascus, which Chris- 
tians have not ceased to sing even to this day. 

Easter Day has given us our Christian Sunday. 
The original creation- work and God's restful con- 
templation of what He had made gave us the 
ancient Sabbath ; and so the new creation, which 
broke from the tomb of Jesus on Easter Day, has 
given us the better light of our Christian Sunday, 
every recurrence of which is something of a little 
Easter Day — the Church's stand-up day. 

Nor is it difficult to see and appreciate why the 
Church from the very beginning has ever made so 
much of Easter Day. 

It was the day of illustrious vindication for the 
character, claims, and teachings of our Christ. 
While He lived He was denounced as a deceiver, 
His miracles ascribed to Satan, His professions 
condemned as blasphemy, and His body crucified, 
because He said He was the Son of God. Easter 
Day wiped out all these lying accusations, and 
declared Him " to be the Son of God with power." 

Easter Day affixed the great seal of Heaven to 
the completeness and sufficiency of Christ's aton- 
ing sacrifice. He had taken upon Him our nat- 
ure, endured the privations, toils, and sufferings 
of human life, and surrendered himself to death, 
even the death of the cross, to fill for us the place 
of a second Adam, and by these means to buy 
back what the first Adam had forfeited and lost. 
It was as surety for guilty man, and with willing 
consent to pay all our debt to the violated law, 
that He submitted to that awful death, and came 



under its dark dominion. Nor was it possible 
for Him ever to be released from those bonds 
without the rendering of full satisfaction to eter- 
nal Majesty and Justice. And when Easter Day 
showed him gloriously alive, it was the invincible 
demonstration from the eternal Throne that the 
debt of man was paid, justice satisfied, the law 
honored, and condemnation forever done away for 
every one that believeth. 

Easter Day was the day of glorious victory for 
Christ over all His enemies. Up to that time 
they seemed to have everything their own way. 
For thirty pieces of silver they had secured His 
betrayal into their hands. Without a contest 
they had obtained His condemnation and Pilate's 
consent to have Him crucified. They nailed Him 
to the cross. They succeeded in killing Him, and 
in getting the seal and guard of state to secure 
His sepulchre. We can imagine the powers of 
darkness grinning to each other over the effectual 
end they had put to this Son of God, who had 
shown himself so great a menace to their king- 
dom. But Easter Day came upon them like a 
devastating cyclone, while the cross stood uplifted 
as the banner of the victorious Christ. Our Sam- 
son had awakened from His slumbers and carried 
off in triumph the very gates of death. 

Easter Day was the effectual forepledge of a 
blessed resurrection to all believers. The dread 
sombreness of the reign of death it quite brushed 
away. It showed the bonds of Sheol broken, so 
that all our graves now lie open toward heaven. 



THE DAY OF GLADNESS. 221 

That day gave us the sublime earnest of our im- 
mortality. What was accomplished by Christ, 
was accomplished for all that are His, and must 
ere long be accomplished in them. Having risen 
from the dead, He hath become the first fruits of 
them that slept. His resurrection guarantees the 
resurrection of all who die in Him, just as the 
first fruits prove and foreshow a general harvest 
of the same kind. Yes, these flowers and Easter 
jubilations, dim and perishable as they are, pre- 
lude a glorious morning, when angels of God 
shall throw open the tombs of all that sleep in 
Jesus; and from earth and sea the myriad hosts 
shall rise and shine in the splendors of their 
Master's likeness. 

Easter Day is our sublimest illuminant of the 
invisible world. It gives us rays of light that 
extend beyond the tomb. It demonstrates that 
death is not an obliteration of our being, but only 
an incident in our history. It furnishes assurance 
that the great ones gone, the high souls passed 
from earth, and all the holy and beloved dead 
from our own hearths and homes, still live to God, 
happy in their rest and hopes, and only awaiting 
greater glory and nobler life in the unfolding of 
the great purposes of God. It proves to us that 
Paradise itself is only a vestibule to a nobler, 
higher, and eternal estate, into which Jesus our 
Forerunner has for us entered, and to which the 
resurrection is to bring His saints. ( It shows us 
our loving and dear Saviour full Master of the 
realms invisible, and Head over all things for the 



222 EASTER. 

glorification of His people. And in it we have 
outlooks into infinitudes of blessedness, and end- 
less cycles of Godward expansion and supernal 
peace. 

Nor need I stop to tell what an invincible fort- 
ress our Easter Day is to our beleagured faith for 
further proof that this Day the Lord hath made 
for us to rejoice in and be glad. 

Nor is Easter Day any less important now, — 
any less significant, — any way diminished in its 
joyousness, grace, and potency, — than when it 
first dawned upon the world. The Resurrection 
of Jesus is a thing of undying power. The Risen 
One is the very same to-day who spoke to Mary 
Magdalene, reproved the doubting Thomas, talked 
on the way to Emmaus, and broke bread on the 
shore of Gennesaret. All that could be said of 
Him then is true of Him still. What He did for 
His friends then He is as competent to do now. 
And all the gladness, rejoicing, glorying confi- 
dence, and conquering comfort, strength, and 
hope which Easter Day had then, may also be 
ours. 

Only this must not be forgotten, that Easter 
Day is a call to a new and better life. Our glory- 
ing is not good, except as it tends to lift us from 
the death of sin to the life of righteousness. We 
cannot truly keep the feast with the old leaven 
of malice and wickedness cleaving to our souls. 
Christ died and rose again that we might rise 
from the death of sin and cast off all the works 
of darkness. He did not take our place to make 



THE DAY OF GLADNESS. 223 

us more secure in negligence and unbelief. He 
did not conquer death and triumph over it that 
we might yield ourselves the more freely to the 
corruptions and follies of a carnal life. 

Easter Day is not for mere outward jubilation, 
but for the soul to cleave to Him who is the 
Resurrection and the Life; to confirm our faith 
in Him; to quicken us in His service; to animate 
us to unfaltering love and glad obedience. 

Easter Day was meant to create new eagerness, 
as well as new hope, in a wasted and perishing 
world; to reinforce man's life and aims and ener- 
gies for a new career; to inspire with ardor to 
reach that God-like stature which belongs to a 
candidate for a blessed immortality. And while 
we rejoice in Easter Day, let it be in deadness to 
sin and its allurements, and in joyous life to God 
through our Lord Jesus Christ; to whom, with 
the Father and the Holy Ghost, be all honor and 
glory, world without end. 



Religious ffiertttuto. 

First Sunday after Easter. 




Let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, hav- 
ing our hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience. — Heb. io : 22. 

SSURANCE is the firm persuasion of the 
certainty of a thing. It may respect a 
matter of fact, a matter of belief, or a 
matter of hope. In the text it means a 
thorough persuasion that Christ is an all-sufficient 
Saviour, and that through what He has done and 
suffered for us we are now accepted as God's chil- 
dren and heirs of heaven. 

It is a great thing to have such a believing con- 
fidence. So long as a matter like this hangs in 
dim uncertainty it is impossible to have solid 
spiritual peace. It is only when our souls are 
sure, and we can say with Paul, "I know whom 
I have believed and that He is able to keep that 
which I have committed unto Him," that we 
enter upon the proper life and joy of our faith. 

Whether such assurance is to be taken as a 
part of faith, or as a degree of faith, or as only a 
consequence or fruit of faith, it still remains true 
that there must be some kind or degree of cer- 
tainty in order to enter into the peace of believing. 

224 



FIRST SUNDAY AFTER EASTER. 225 

It is important, however, to note the distinction 
between assurance about what Christ is and pro- 
poses, and our persausion that we certainly are 
among the saved. We may be satisfied and sure 
of all the great doctrines about Christ, and believe 
them without a doubt, and yet not be sure that 
we have personally embraced Him unto salvation. 
We may even truly believe in Him, and really 
belong to the number of the forgiven and saved, 
and yet not be sure of it in our own minds. 

It is just here that much mischievous confusion 
often exists. Some say you must be entirely sure, 
and know for a certainty that you are saved, or 
else you are not saved. But this is very unfair 
and misleading. It tends to make over-confident 
self-deceivers on the one hand, and to dishearten 
and undo what may be genuine faith on the 
other. Hence we have people who are very sure 
that they are Christians, and seem to have no 
question that they will go direct to heaven when 
they leave this world, and yet have no real faith 
in Christ. Their religion is nothing but noisy 
emptiness, a flattering dream. They think them- 
selves something, while they are nothing. So, 
again, there are many humble and timid children 
of God, who truly embrace Christ and His salva- 
tion, and have some dim hope that He will own 
them at the last, but would not dare to say they 
have no question or fear about their ultimate sal- 
vation. 

It was the shrewd remark of an old clergyman, 
that when he got to heaven, if God in His mercy 



226 RELIGIOUS CERTITUDE. 

should ever bring him there, he would find three 
great surprises : First, at not finding there some 
who were very sure of getting there ; second, at 
finding there some who were afraid to hope for so 
great a mercy ; and third, and the greatest of all, 
in finding himself there. 

I would therefore have you note and mark this 
fact, that saving faith in Christ and personal as- 
surance of our salvation are two different things. 
Faith in Christ as our Lord and Saviour is one 
thing ; but faith in our own faith is another thing. 
The two may, should, and often do go together. 
When one truly believes in Christ he ought to 
know that he believes ; but he may truly believe 
and still not be as confidently certain about it as 
he would like to be. The absence of full confi- 
dence in our own faith is a disability, a discom- 
fort, and a hindrance to our spiritual peace and 
joy ; but it does not necessarily argue the absence 
of saving faith, for there may be saving faith 
where there is no firm assurance of it. 

The ' ' Assurance of Faith ' ' respects two things, 
about which we can and should be certain. 

First, we can and should be sure about the ob- 
ject on which faith rests. We cannot be believers 
without believing something ; and that something 
we must feel sure about in order to believe it, or 
we do not believe it. That on which faith rests 
is the word and promise of God in Christ. Here 
there can be no doubt nor misgiving, if we have 
faith at all. God's word is and must be true. 
His promises are yea and amen. If we cannot 



FIRST SUNDAY AFTER EASTER. 227 

rest on them, we cannot rest on anything. And 
if we do not take and believe them, we have no 
Gospel faith. Here then faith has assurance. 
Where it is in living power it must believe the 
word and promises of God. It belongs to the very 
essence of faith thus to take God at His word. 

In the next place, taking the Gospel as true, we 
can know and be certain whether we take for our 
Saviour and hope that Saviour whom the Gospel 
offers. True faith makes the word and promise 
of God in Christ a real thing to us, — a thing on 
which we fix our trust, hope, and firmest calcula- 
tions, for time and eternity. We may hesitate to 
take to ourselves the undoubting persuasion that 
we are and certainly shall be saved; but it cannot 
be because we cannot tell and be sure whether 
we believe God's word or not, or whether we take 
and rest on Christ as our Saviour, or not. 

But while it belongs to faith to be sure and cer- 
tain on these points, it is not to be overlooked 
that faith has its degrees. It has not the same 
clearness and strength in every one, nor in the 
same believer at all times. And in so far as as- 
surance is a mere degree of faith it does not affect 
the existence or essence of faith. Faith may be 
sure that it rests on Christ, and yet be weak and 
timid in taking to itself all that is covenanted to 
one who so believes. This is what we may call 
weak faith; but though weak, it is real, and it 
justifies and saves, whether we are as sure and 
satisfied about it as we would like, or not. As 
one of our old theologians has properly said, "We 



228 RELIGIOUS CERTITUDE. 

are justified by faith, not because it is a virtue so 
firm, robust, and perfect; but on account of the 
object in whom it rests; that is, because it appre- 
hends and holds to Christ as the Saviour." It is 
not the strength and power of the grasp with 
which one embraces Christ that justifies and 
saves; but the fact that Christ is grasped, and 
that on Him we build and hope. The proper 
object being grasped, though that grasp be feeble, 
provided only there is sincere desire and determi- 
nation to hold fast, there faith is genuine and 
saving, although the believer may not yet have 
reached the full assurance of faith. The drown- 
ing man, clinging to the rope cast to him, may 
not be sure it will bring him safely to shore; but 
if he holds on to it, even though with but one 
hand, that rope will bring him in nevertheless. 
The disciples believed and were accepted in their 
belief, even when they craved a greater degree of 
faith. 

Thus much is necessary to be said and under- 
stood that timid and weak believers may not be 
thrown into despondency and despair. Doubting 
Castle is a sombre place for a believer to get into, 
and its walls, and gates, and bolts are very strong. 
And when souls are in danger of being locked in 
there every help and precaution must be used to 
keep them out. The devil has no better delight 
than when he can impose on believing souls the 
idea that their faith is worthless because so feeble, 
or that they are no Christians at all unless they 
can always be on the glorious mount of exultation 



FIRST SUNDAY AFTER EASTER. 229 

and assurance. If your faith is weak, pray that 
it may be strengthened, and use the means of be- 
coming more clear and confident; but, above all, 
do not let go the rope nor give up in despair be- 
cause you "cannot feel certain and sure whether 
you will ever get safely to shore or not. 

But still, if any one has doubts and misgivings 
in so great a matter, let him not rest satisfied with 
his estate, as if it would all come right of itself. 
God sometimes hides His face in this way, just to 
spur us on to deeper experiences and to a better 
enjoyment of Christ. 

It is intended that we should have assurance 
of faith. Every provision for it exists. It is one 
of the offices of the Holy Spirit to impart it. 
And we should ever strive to become more and 
more assured by the bringing forth of the fruits 
of faith. 

Two practical cautions, however, remain to be 
stated: One is, Don't expect too much at once. 
Faith is small at first. It has to learn to see, to 
walk, and to feed itself. Those people who seem 
to leap right out of sin into assurance of faith 
are apt to be very artificial believers, and are rest- 
ing on what is likely to fail them after a while. 
Faith that comes into being at full stature is an 
abnormity, — a thing that has not come according 
to the ordinary laws of things. A child must 
learn its A, B, C's before it can read and enjoy 
Shakespeare. And, above all, do not think to 
have the assurance of faith in any outward signs, 
excitements, visions, ecstacies, or extraordinary 



23O RELIGIOUS CERTITUDE. 

experiences. If you wait for that, you will never 
be sure; and you deceive yourself if you rest on 
any such thing. 

Again, do not expect assurance and certainty 
of salvation while you do not attend to the duties 
and ordinances of religion. If you live on good 
terms with the world and your carnal self, neglect 
church, and prayer, and the communion, and ex- 
cuse yourself here and there to indulge your own 
likes, indifference, and laziness, you ought to 
doubt of being a right Christian ; for, if you have 
faith, you are doing the very thing to weaken, 
smother, and kill it. A faith that does not work 
practical obedience is dead. We are sinners all, 
and we must lament and confess it ; but Christ 
has died for us, and procured full forgiveness to 
all that believe in Him. And if we believe in 
Him as our Saviour, we will also draw near in 
His ordinances with a true and honest heart, that 
we may be assured. 

Faith grows and strengthens, like love, like 
hope, by converse and communion with that on 
which it feeds. Therefore there must be a dili- 
gent use of those things which have been merci- 
fully given us as means of grace. A life of un- 
watchfulness, prayerlessness, or self-indulgence 
tends to the decay of faith, stands in the way of 
confident assurance, and, if persevered in, will 
extinguish saving faith altogether. The founda- 
tions stand ever sure, but they become so obscured 
to a vision dimmed by the love of sin and unduti- 
fulness that the soul cannot take to itself the 



FIRST SUNDAY AFTER EASTER. 23 1 

assurance which the Gospel promises are meant 
to give. 

Having therefore, brethren, liberty to enter 
into the holiest, by the blood of Jesus, by a new 
and living Way which He hath consecrated for us, 
through the veil, that is to say, His flesh ; and 
having a great High Priest over the house of 
God ; let us avail ourselves of our high privileges, 
establish ourselves in the faith that rests on Jesus, 
and draw near with a true heart, observing the 
Christian ordinances, and maintaining a con- 
science void of offence. In such case there is no 
ground for wavering in our hope, for He is faith- 
ful that hath promised. 



i^eabcnhj ©uarfcianstfjip. 

Seco7id Sunday after Easter. 




The Lord is my Shepherd. — Ps. 23 : I. 

'HIS little Psalin contains one of the 
fullest and tenderest utterances of as- 
sured faith to be found in any of the 
songs of Zion. It has perhaps made 
more precious melody in the hearts of God's chil- 
dren than any other composition ever given to the 
ancient Church. No tongue can tell the tears it 
has dried, the fears it has dispelled, the hopes it 
has begotten, the confidence it has inspired, and 
the peace it has breathed into timid and troubled 
souls, in its descent through these man}* ages. 
And it is so calm, beautiful, and overflowing with 
joyful faith, that we almost fear to touch it lest 
we should spoil it. 

Thousands of years have passed since first it rose 
from the heart of the man who made it. For 
centuries it was sung by Hebrew tongues in old 
Judea; and weeping captives beside Babel's rivers 
comforted themselves with it in their sorrowful 
captivity. Dispensations have since been changed, 
and new revelations have found place in our world ; 
but this inspired song still holds its place in the 



SECOND SUNDAY AFTER EASTER. 233 

affections of believers. It comes to us redolent 
with precious memories and with a clearer and 
sweeter light since Jesus was on earth. Won- 
drous has been its influence and its life, and eter- 
nity alone can reveal the comfort and blessing it 
has been to souls. 

It is generally ascribed to David, to whom 
nature and life were parables of the sacred and 
divine. It seems to rise directly out of his own 
shepherd life. What he was to his flock imaged 
to him God's tender providence. His leading of 
his sheep into the watered pastures, where they 
could feed and rest in peace, pictured to him the 
goodness and grace of Jehovah. In his watchful 
guardianship to protect his flock against the wild 
beasts that prowled around, he read the unsleep- 
ing care of God to protect and defend His people. 
In conducting his charge through dark and threat- 
ening gorges, where he had to be near his timid 
sheep to encourage and direct them by his staff, 
and thus bring them out into new fields, he saw 
a life picture of Jehovah's nearness to His people 
amid earth's trying changes, and their passage 
through the valley and shadow of death. And 
that new land thus reached directed his thoughts 
to the better country beyond, and the gracious 
reception and entertainment of the worn and 
weary one in the blessed house of God. J>eauti- 
ful and happy contemplations ! How natural ! 
How truthful ! How full of comfort to the soul ! 

Jehovah exercises a rule and authority over all 
men and over all things; but there is a peculiar 



234 HEAVENLY GUARDIANSHIP. 

and special office which He exercises over His 
chosen people, which is best illustratad by that 
of a shepherd over his flock. Accordingly we 
find this imagery constantly applied both in the 
Old and the New Testaments. Thus Asaph 
prayed, "Give ear, O Shepherd of Israel, Thou 
that leadest Joseph like a flock. " So it was pre- 
dicted of the coming Saviour, "He shall feed 
His flock like a shepherd; He shall gather the 
lambs in His arms, and shall carry them in His 
bosom, and shall gently lead them that are with 
young." So the Lord Jesus himself declares, 
"I am the good Shepherd, and know my sheep, 
and am known of mine; and I give unto them 
eternal life." Hence also the Apostles write of 
Him as "the great Shepherd of the sheep," — 
( ' the Shepherd and Bishop of souls. ' ' 

It is not easy in our modern times to realize 
what all is included in this designation. We 
know what a merchant is, a farmer, a legislator, 
a minister, an engineer, a soldier, a navigator, a 
mechanic, an author ; but when we would have 
an idea of what is meant by a shepherd we have 
to go far back among phases of society so different 
from ours as to be totally foreign to what we now 
see and know. 

Naturally, we might suppose a shepherd to be 
a very humble, servile personage ; but in ancient 
times, when riches consisted chiefly of flocks and 
herds, a shepherd was one of the most distin- 
guished of men. The office bordered on princely 
dignity. Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Moses, and 



SECOND SUNDAY AFTER EASTER. 235 

David served as shepherds. And such an idylic 
beauty and gracious authority connect with the 
office that the greatest and mightiest kings used 
it to denote their relations to their people. The 
shepherd was far above his flock in intelligence, 
strength, and ruling power. He was the king, 
lord, and absolute commander and guide of his 
sheep. They were his property, his possession. 
But for that very reason he was most concerned 
for their welfare. He was even joined to his 
flock, and never separated from it by day or by 
night. All his time, interest, and affection were 
given to the serving of it, guarding it from dan- 
ger, leading it into good pastures, and exercising 
toward it all manner of tenderness and love. And 
in this we are to see and read the picture of our 
blessed Saviour's care of those whom He has 
bought with His blood. They are His possession 
— His peculiar treasure. 

And with the great and glorious Jehovah filling 
such an office toward him, the Psalmist was full 
of joyful confidence. 

Herein he found assurance of sufficiency for all 
his wants. No good shepherd will ever suffer his 
flock to starve. Times of scarcity may come, but 
he will see to it to find enough to serve them. 
Nor will our divine Shepherd do less for His peo- 
ple than the shepherd for his sheep. Wealth and 
abundance are not pledged ; for wealth and abun- 
dance cannot feed the soul. Even leanness and 
famine may be the richer blessing. But with 
Jehovah as our Shepherd there can come no des- 



236 HEAVENLY GUARDIANSHIP. 

titution that can destroy, — no real want that will 
not be amply met. 

Herein also was plentiful enjoyment. As a 
flock in a valley of tender grass, where it could 
eat to fullness, drink of the purest waters, and lie 
down in quiet by the gentle streams ; so blest did 
the Psalmist find himself as he believed and real- 
ized that Jehovah was his Shepherd. 

In the midst of such lives as we are forced to 
live there is nothing that is more welcome to the 
soul than the idea of rest. But we seek it in vain 
in the pursuits and possessions of this world. 
None better know the utter hollowness of all that 
earth can give than those who have the most of 
it. The soul was made to rest in God, and can 
rest in nothing else. The truest enjoyment, and 
the only abiding peace, is in the living conscious- 
ness that Jehovah is our Shepherd. 

Herein also all the trials, hardships, and sor- 
rows of life are modified and transformed into a 
healthgiving discipline. "All we like sheep 
have gone astray," wide wandering from the 
paths of right. Hurts, bruises, and sorrows are 
the result. But the Son of man is come to seek 
and to save that which was lost. By His word 
and Spirit He comes to the faint and perishing, 
restore th their lost strength, helps them back to 
their true place, and overrules their very afflic- 
tions to further them in righteousness. There is 
more joy in redemption than if there never had 
been need of it. Heaven is all the happier for the 
saints for the hurts of sin which they have felt. 



SECOND SUNDAY AFTER EASTER. 237 

Not indeed because there is merit and virtue in 
the miseries of transgression, but wholly and alone 
through the goodness and grace of an overruling 
God, and for His own Name's sake. 

Herein also was comfort and fortification for 
the soul amid all the dark and threatening transi- 
tions that mark human existence. No earthly 
estate is secure and abiding. Those happy to-day 
may be in deepest sorrow to-morrow. Riches 
often make way for all the sorer poverty. He 
who is most honored one day may be execrated 
the next. And every one that lives must soon 
leave this world for quite another. All these 
transitions have chilling shades and disturbing 
elements from which nature shrinks. Whether it 
be from the adverse changes in this world, or the 
deeper shadows to be passed in leaving it, the 
soul is in great need of supports and assurances 
which only faith in God can give. But with the 
ever-living and allwise Jehovah for our Shepherd 
there is no occasion for alarm nor fear. Dark as 
things may seem, where He directs, and walks 
with us, and assures us by His presence and 
promises, the threatening gloom is lost in the 
light of His smiles, and His rod and His staff 
give ample comfort in the passage to the richer 
pastures in the beyond. 

And as a princely host receives an honored 
guest, spreads before him a refreshing feast, 
anoints his head with fragrant oil, and fills his 
cup to overflowing ; so the believer, who main- 
tains his trust in God, comes out at last in abun- 



238 HEAVENLY GUARDIANSHIP. 

dant triumph over all his foes. In the mansion of 
the Father's house He is favored with the wel- 
come and joyous hospitality of God. When all 
foes have done their worst, and death is past, and 
the last in the train of the sad consequences of sin 
is gone, the shadows lift, a glorious morning 
breaks, and the soul stands washed and beautiful 
before the face of Him who has bought it by His 
blood. 

And in all this is rooted and embodied the tri- 
umphant inference that goodness and mercy will 
surely attend us amid all the vicissitudes and 
changes of this life, and home with God be our 
eternal inheritance. 

With the infinite and eternal One joined to us 
in all the intimacy, care, and abiding tenderness 
of the good and faithful shepherd, there can be no 
better security for our peace. Even the presence 
of an earthly friend is a wonderful comfort in pain 
and sorrow. The infant's fears subside in its 
mother's arms. The shrinking child gathers 
courage when its father is by its side. The flock 
feeds in contentment while it sees its shepherd 
near. And when the soul is assured of the loving 
presence of its almighty Guardian and Saviour, 
all cause for unmanning fear departs, and in its 
place there comes a peace and confidence that is 
proof against all the ills and adversities of time, 
and takes fast hold upon eternal blessedness. 

Many good Christians are often full of disturb- 
ing doubts and fears. They believe, and yet they 
have serious misgivings. They are in trouble, 



SECOND SUNDAY AFTER EASTER. 239 

and cannot see how things are likely to eventuate, 
and so they fear the worst. They wonder how 
they will ever be able to get through. Will God 
interfere in their behalf? Is it wise to hold out 
in hopeful confidence when everything is so ad- 
verse and dark ? How will they ever be able to 
meet death ? Never mind, desponding soul. Learn 
to reason from this Psalm, and take courage from 
its writer' s logic. Behold Jehovah' s tenderness and 
love, and rise to the victorious blessedness of faith. 

The one only great matter is to be able to say 
in truth, u The Lord is my Shepherd." It is not 
enough to believe that He was the Shepherd of 
the Psalmist, the Shepherd of the devout Jew; or 
that He is the Shepherd of other people, and of 
the Church in general. He must be to us per- 
sonally and individually our Shepherd. -He pro- 
poses indeed to be the Guardian and Saviour of 
every one willing to accept and come to Him. 
But this personal acceptance of Him, and obedient 
submission to His directions and commands, and 
surrender of heart and life to His care, trusting 
alone to His goodness, can by no means be dis- 
pensed with. And only as we thus give and sub- 
mit ourselves to be led and saved as He wills, does 
He become our Shepherd. 

O that we had more of the precious trust of 
this sweet singer ! That we could without reserve 
repose in the saving guardianship of Jesus ! How 
it would silence our murmurs, and hush our 
tumults, and swell our joys ! God help us in our 
weakness ! and may His banner over us be love ! 



Unotomg tf)e ILcirir, 

Third Sunday after Easter. 




And none of the disciples durst ask Him, Who art thou ? Know- 
ing that it was the Lord. — Jno. 21 : 12. 

WERY careful reader of the Gospel must 
have noticed the mystery which hangs 
over the condition and movements of 
our blessed Saviour, during the forty 
days after his resurrection. Where He stayed, 
how His time was occupied, what sort of life He 
lived, are deeply hidden from human knowledge. 
About twelve times He appeared to His dis- 
ciples; but His interviews were short, and His 
manifestations were unsearchably mysterious. He 
entered the room where they were without the 
opening of the door; He forbade the familiarity 
which they had previously indulged; and He van- 
ished from them in ways which no human intelli- 
gence could follow. Mary Magdalene recognized 
Him, when, with the old familiar voice, He called 
her by name; but when she thought to touch and 
embrace Him He withdrew himself and disap- 
peared. He walked in close converse with the 
two disciples on the way to Emmaus, entered 
their home, sat down with them to their meal, 

240 



THIRD SUNDAY AFTER EASTER. 24 1 

and made himself known to them in the breaking 
and blessing of their bread; and then was gone. 
To the affrighted assembly of His followers He 
showed His scarred hands and pierced side, and 
invited them to handle Him and see that He was 
a real being, the same Jesus they had seen die; 
but by the manner of His coming and of His 
going, by the salutation He addressed to them, 
and by the endowment and commission which He 
gave them, He raised in their thoughts and feel- 
ings a sense of a divine presence and dignity. 
No proof of His humanity could be more con- 
clusive than His proposal to Thomas, "Reach 
hither thy finger, and behold my hands, and reach 
hither thy hand and thrust it into my side;" 
but, at the same time, there went with it what 
evidenced the superhuman and divine, eliciting 
the response and confession: " My Lord, and My 
God. ' ' 

And so in the case before us. He stands on the 
shore as His disciples come in from the fishing. 
He says to them, u Children, have ye any meat? 1 ' 
And when they tell how unsuccessful their night's 
work had been, He bade them " Cast the net on 
the right side of the ship." They went as He 
directed, and while they let down the net He 
kindled a fire on the sand, prepared for them a 
morning meal, and bade them " Come and eat, " 
when they returned. In all this He acted in the 
most human manner, so much so that they did 
not at first distinguish Him from ordinary fre- 
quenters of those shores. But with these simple 

16 



242 KNOWING THE LORD. 

transactions, there was a demonstration of majesty 
which well nigh overwhelmed them. That cast 
of the net at His request flashed the conviction 
upon John: "It is the Lord." And by the time 
they got to shore and partook of the meal He 
had prepared, ' ' none of the disciples durst ask 
Him, Who art thou? Knowing that it was the 
Lord." 

The proper recognition of the Christ amid the 
duties of' this present life is thus suggested for 
our consideration. 

The Sea of Galilee presents a picture of our 
earthly life. It is not wide. It is bounded by 
narrow limits. It is islandless and without stop- 
ping-place from one shore to the other. It is very 
varied in condition. And it is beset with many 
dangers. Yet there is much good in it that may 
be fished up for our comfort and enrichment. 
And such is our life on earth. 

It was around this sea that the particular inter- 
est of Christ clustered. His home was there. He 
walked on its waters, quelled its waves, and re- 
buked its storms. On its shores He dispossessed 
the demons; cast out evil spirits; fed the hungry; 
healed the suffering; uttered His richest parables ; 
and spoke His loving beatitudes. About it He 
lingered, and showed himself, and called men to 
be His followers, and dealt out His mysterious 
bread and fishes, and gave commands concerning 
His sheep and lambs. And so He is occupied to 
direct and help us in this earthly life of trouble 
and need. 



THIRD SUNDAY AFTER EASTER. 243 

Nor can anything of abiding worth be made out 
of this sea of earthly life without Him. Men may 
embark upon it with all their wisdom, and toil 
with all their skill and power, and continue their 
endeavors till the morning breaks ; but without 
Christ's word and help they will eventually come 
to shore with the sad confession that they have 
taken nothing. They may have good intentions, 
as these disciples had. Their aims may even be 
unselfish and beneficent. But if Jesus has not 
sent them, or their going* is only according to 
their own devising, they will return with empty 
boats and wasted strength. 

The world is full of such fruitless effort. People 
go where Christ has not sent them, or try to fish 
up good in ways in which Christ has not bid 
them, and they only toil in vain. They may con- 
stitute societies, institute moral reforms, bind 
themselves by solemn oaths to be faithful in 
moral deeds and devotion to one another ; but if 
they cannot, show a Thus saith the Lord for their 
proceedings, they will come back hungry and 
empty. Men may cast their nets without Jesus 
but then they will have to draw them without 
fishes, and find that they have toiled for naught. 

We need to know that there is a Christ, who 
has bought us with His blood, and who lives, 
clothed with majesty, authority, and wisdom to 
direct and control our lives and energies. With- 
out this truth living in our deepest convictions 
there can be no lasting good of life. We must 
believe that Jesus is ; that He is the man who was 



244 KNOWING THE LORD. 

crucified ; that He is risen from the dead ; that all 
authority and power in heaven and on earth is 
His ; and that it is His prerogative to prescribe 
and command what we shall do, and how employ 
ourselves. In other words, we must know that 
He is the Lo7'd, and be so persuaded of it as to 
have no question on the subject. " The disciples 
durst not ask Him, Who art thou ? Knowing that 
it was the Lord. ' ' 

Christ has really appeared upon these earthly 
shores, — appeared as a brother man, — although 
the incarnate Son of God. He has appeared also 
in resurrection pow T er and glory, the mighty Vic- 
tor over death and hell. His voice has sounded 
over these w T aters, and His word has come even 
into our ears. And He still presents himself to 
the view of our faith, as He presented himself to 
these disciples, and speaks to us the same direct- 
ing words which He spoke to them. And what 
we need is to recognize Him as our friend, our 
Lord, our God, who, to all His human sympathy 
and kindly approaches, conjoins the majesty and 
authority of the Almighty. There is no lasting 
success without proper recognition of the Christ. 

And knowing the Lord, w T e need to be obedient 
to His word. He has come to these shores to tell 
and show us where we ! ' shall find. ' ' He tells us 
where to let down the net. Into the deep we are 
to launch out ; — into the deep of penitence for our 
sins, and humility for our unworthiness ; — into 
the deep of self-denial and self-forgetfulness ; — 
into the deep of pure and controlling reverence 



THIRD SUNDAY AFTER EASTER. 245 

and love for our I,ord and Saviour; — into the 
deep of effort and self-sacrifice for Him. 

' ' On the right side of the ship ' ' we are to let 
down the net. The left side is the world's pro- 
verbial symbol for wrong, emptiness, and loss. 
The left side is the side of the unsanctified and 
the unsaved. Therefore the word is, u Cast the 
net on the right side of the ship, and ye shall 
find." However unpromising or difficult the way 
of righteousness and honest duty may seem, it is 
the only way of effectual success. If we are not 
willing to take the side of justice and right, we 
must consent to come empty to shore. In all the 
duties and endeavors of this world it behooves us 
to be sure of this that we cast the net "on the 
right side of the ship." 

There is also this encouraging fact that, while 
we are engaged doing the Master's bidding on the 
sea, He is tenderly watching us from the shore. 
He has long since passed over to His glory. But 
while His disciples are yet on these waters He 
keeps himself near the margin and looks down 
upon them in their toil. His great heart goes out 
to them, and yearns to have them know and do 
the right, that they may have plenty. In all our 
disappointments, trials, difficulties, and disheart- 
ening endeavors Jesus is never far off. He 
walks the shore of every sea of trouble. And 
when we are ready to despair He meets us with 
His friendly words and fills our nets with ample 
compensation for all our obedient toils. 

Jesus has indeed passed beyond the flood and 



246 KNOWING THE LORD. 

entered upon the glory which He had with the 
Father before the world was; but He has not for- 
gotten us, and joins us in every moment of dis- 
couragement, and speaks to us as His children, 
and comforts us with His word and grace. 

Blessed Jesus ! Thy mercies are unsearchable, 
and Thy goodness is past finding out ! Wonderful 
is Thy grace ! 

And then, when these disciples got to shore 
with their well-filled net, they made a still more 
cheering discovery. They were hungry, and cold, 
and exhausted with their night's toil; but "as 
soon as they were come to land, they saw a fire 
of coals there, and fish laid thereon, and bread." 
It was a grateful sight to men in their condition. 
Jesus had anticipated their wants; and while 
they were toiling on the waters He was making 
ready a warm and gracious meal for them on their 
landing. 

These shores represent the world to which our 
blessed Lord has gone; and this incident explains 
what He is doing there. He is making ready a 
glorious repast for His wearied and toilworn dis- 
ciples. And when once we reach those shores 
we will find there the fire of coals to warm us, 
and the blessed meal ready to satisfy us, and the 
glorified Saviour to deal out to us the viands and 
refreshment of the life eternal. 

Oh, it was a happy morning for these disheart- 
ened men when they thus met their Master, and 
knew that it was the Lord ! But it was only a 
1 dim foreshowing and feeble foretaste of the joy 



THIRD SUNDAY AFTER EASTER. 247 

of our final landing beyond these troubled waters, 
when the word of our Lord shall be : " Come and 
dine" — eat and be satisfied, drink, and never 
thirst again ! 

Behold, then, dear friends, the mercy and maj- 
esty — the condescension and glory — the sym- 
pathizing humanity and the commanding power 
and goodness of our Lord. Behold how He loves, 
and pities, and follows, and helps, and serves, at 
the same time that He directs and governs. Be- 
hold how heavenly almightiness comes to mingle 
in our earthly toils, to reward and bless our earnest 
labors, and to welcome us at last- to the Christ- 
made repast preparing for us on yonder nearing 
shores. Behold, and let your fears and doubts 
and questionings be done away. Behold, and 
know, that it is the Lord, even your Lord and 
your God. 




Fourth Sunday after Easter. 

Hear, earth, the words of my mouth. My doctrine shall drop 
as the rain, my speech shall distil as the dew, as the small rain upon 
the tender herb, and as the showers upon the grass. — Deut. 32 : 1,2, 

i]E see from this what great store God 
places upon His Word, and the minis- 
tration of it to the children of men. 
He likens its effect to that of the most 
precious things in nature. It is like the dropping 
rain to the parched earth; — like the distillation 
of the dews upon wilted plants; — like the showers 
upon the grass; — like the small rain upon the 
tender herb. 

The natural man, spiritually considered, is like 
a plant without adequate moisture, — wilted, with- 
ered, parched, and perishing. There may be 
outward gayety and thrift, but inwardly all is dry 
and dying. The soul is in the condition of a 
plant that is yielding up its life for want of rain. 
And the word of God is that precious thing which 
alone can refresh and revive it. 

We know what a sad thing a drought is. The 
ground becomes like rock; the streams forget to 
flow; the fountains fail; the verdure disappears 



FOURTH SUNDAY AFTER EASTER. 249 

from the fields; the leaves shrink and shrivel; the 
flowers lose color and fragrance; the flocks are in 
distress of hunger and thirst; the birds hide away 
and refuse to sing; nature becomes pulseless; and 
all things are ready to perish. But when God 
sends His clouds over the land, and pours out 
rains from heaven, and sends His dews and show- 
ers, how glad and marvellous is the change ! 

And so it is where God's word comes into the 
soul with its life-giving freight. Where its blessed 
tidings are received, sinking strength recovers, 
and dying hopes rekindle, and perishing souls 
revive, and refreshing from the Lord sets a thou- 
sand springs a flowing, and the Spirit of the Al- 
mighty awakens long-suspended pulsations, and 
everything sings and rejoices with a new-begotten 
animation. 

Gently also are all these great things wrought. 
There is no bluster nor tempest. When the winds 
are high there is no dew. It cometh not with 
observation. It forms under the wing of silence 
and quietude. The quickest ear cannot hear its 
motions ; the clearest eye cannot detect the deli- 
cate process of its formation. No man can trace 
its beginning, and no commotion or violence ever 
betrays its presence. Yet it comes to every leaf, 
touches every blade of grass, bathes every grow- 
ing thing ; and when the day dawns the whole 
landscape is arrayed in its glittering wealth. 

And so it is with the divine word. God some- 
times speaks in the thunder and the tempest ; but 
that is in wrath and judgment. The Gospel is 



250 THE REFRESHING WORD. 

gentle and quiet. Storms can break ships in 
pieces, unroof palaces, overthrow forests and tow- 
ers, and fill a continent with terror ; but they are 
not the symbol of God's saving w T ord. The earth- 
quake can convulse the seas, engulf cities, shake 
the mountains ; but it is not the symbol of God's 
saving word. Fire can lay habitations in ashes, 
and sweep with a power which no resistance can 
overcome ; but from all such terrific agents we are 
conducted to the still, small voice, the gentle rain, 
the genial showers, the quiet dew, as the images 
of God's working upon the soul. Not amid ex- 
citements and boisterous agitations, but in thought- 
fulness and silence, — not in uproar and wild con- 
fusion, but in solemn meditation and the hidden 
places of prayer and calm soul-searching, — does 
the life-giving power of God impart itself to will- 
ing hearts. 

The still hours are the hours of the dew ; and 
they are in like manner the hours for God's word 
to do its holy offices. The command is : " Com- 
mune with your own heart upon your bed, and be 
still." When we withdraw ourselves from the 
noise and bustle of the w r orld ; — when we calm 
our minds in solitude ; — when we quietly muse 
upon the great themes of what and where we are, 
whither we are going, and what is to become of 
us ; — when we softly lift our thoughts to God and 
heaven ; — these are the moments and attitudes in 
which the Spirit speaks most effectively, and the 
sacred messages of heaven gather and flow in upon 
our souls to quicken us unto salvation. 



FOURTH SUNDAY AFTER EASTER. ■--. 25 I 

The same figures tell us of plentiful variety. 
Rain, and dew, and small rain, and showers fill 
out a catalogue of copious abundance, suited to 
every necessity and reaching every need. In the 
common course of things rains and dews cover 
whole countries at once, and touch every growing 
thing, and supply all alike. And so God's refresh- 
ing word is a common blessing, which comes to 
each, and offers its reviving power alike to every 
one. If any are not saved, it is not because God 
has not sent out his word to them, nor because 
that word is in any manner inadequate. If the 
dropping of the rain fails, there is the dew and 
the small rain ; and if these fail, there are the 
showers. There is no deficiency in form or plen- 
tifulness. Abundant prosperity is thus assured to 
the receptive and obedient. 

Very near to us also are these blessed agencies. 
The rain does not come from the stars. The 
showers do not spring from other worlds. The 
dews are not imported from the distant heavens. 
All these blessed things reside in our atmosphere, 
and have their source in what God has ordained 
for our world. A little change in the temperature 
makes them ours. They are in continual readi- 
ness to drop in blessing upon the earth. Fit 
symbol this of the precious word and grace of 
God ! It is everywhere and always about us, and 
in us, and ready to do all its offices of good upon 
us. ' ' The word is nigh thee, even in thy mouth, 
and in thy heart : that is, the word of faith, which 
we preach." It is in the very air we breathe. It 



252 THE REFRESHING WORD. 

surrounds us wherever we go. It needs only the 
right conditions in us to discharge its treasures 
into our bosoms. We have only to believe, — to 
assure ourselves of it, — to receive it, — and it is 
ours. If only the heart of unbelief be put away, 
and the flare of this world and its noisy doings be 
shut out from the soul, and the calm glories of 
heaven allowed to spread open their wonders to 
our contemplation, no matter where or when, 
there the dews of eternal life distil in all their re- 
viving freshness, and there the powers of God's 
salvation are. The odors of the divine presence 
are there, and all the reviving touches of immor- 
tality. Unspeakable treasures are at hand for 
hearts open to receive them. 

Good prospects are also symbolized by these 
figures. The rain, the dew, the showers, in their 
season, prophesy of plentiful harvests. When 
God promised to be as the dew unto Israel it 
meant growth and fruitfulness. It pledged that 
Israel should bloom as the lily, and cast forth his 
roots as Lebanon, and spread out in beauty as the 
olive tree, and fill the earth with fragrance. And 
so the Lord hath declared : " As the rain cometh 
down, and the snow from heaven, and returneth 
not thither, but watereth the earth, and maketh 
it bring forth and bud, that it may give seed to 
the sower and bread to the eater; so shall 7ny 
word be, that goeth forth out of my mouth." 

Whether we be lilies or olive-plants, vines or 
cedars, grain or grass, God's word is meant to 
nurture us, to make us grow, and strengthen, and 



FOURTH SUNDAY AFTER EASTER. 253 

bring forth fruit to His praise. To this end it is 
adapted, as the rain and the dew. By it we may 
nourish ourselves into the lily's loveliness, the 
olive's beauty, the cedar's excellence, the vine's 
glad fruitfulness, and the worth of the harvest's 
golden sheaves. 

God also expects this of us. For this He hath 
given His word. It has no other end than that 
we should hear it, receive it, and walk worthy of 
the Iyord unto all well-pleasing, being fruitful in 
every good work. 

There is, however, still another thought in this 
imagery. Rain is not comfortable while it is fall- 
ing. It is only when it has fallen, and the clouds 
clear away from the sky, and the sun comes forth 
in its beauty, that the good is realized. Then it 
is that the joy comes. Then the brooks and the 
birds sing; the fields are alive with gladness; the 
leaves glisten with joy; the clouds on the horizon 
take on tints of molten gold; the rainbow arches 
in majesty over the green hills; glory is on all the 
face of nature; and a voice from heaven calls: 
4 ' Rise up, my fair one, and come away ; for the 
rain is over and gone; the flowers appear on the 
earth, the time for the singing of birds is come, 
and the vines with the tender grapes give a good 
smell." 

The dew comes with night and darkness. It 
is only chilling till the morning breaks. But as 
soon as the day opens the loveliness appears. 
Then it seems as if an angel had oversown the 
fields with diamonds and hung a brilliant on 



254 THE REFRESHING WORD. 

every blade and leaf. The very air is redo- 
lent of heavenly fragrance. And the whole 
earth is breathless in the glories of a celestial 
baptism ! 

And so it is with the precious work of grace 
upon the soul. It has its discomforts. Its bene- 
fits cannot be without sacrifices. The word calls 
for repentance; and repentance is never pleasant. 
Clouds often come, and afflictive experiences. 
But they are for good, and soon clear away. The 
night does not last. And when the sunlight 
comes, and day renews itself, then shall mag- 
nificence greet the vision beyond all that we 
have ever dreamed. Then first shall be disclosed 
the glorious fruits and living splendors wrought 
in this time of our sufferings, toils, crosses, and 
penitential prayers. Then, what was filthy shall 
be clean; and what was dead shall glow with life; 
and what was dark shall glitter with resplendent 
light. Then shall break forth the long-silent 
songs. Then shall flow and swell the blessed 
river. Then shall vanish the curtains that con- 
ceal heaven's gates of gold and pearl. And 
over all the hills and plains shall stand up a 
myriad congregation of living jewels, flashing 
with the glory of the dew of righteousness. 

The great matter is, for us to hear the word. 
This is God's call to all the earth. And it is a 
gracious call, which it is our highest interest and 
our highest duty to obey. The direction is: 
' ' Receive with meekness the engrafted Word. ' ' 
Our ears must be open to the truth; our hearts 



FOURTH SUNDAY AFTER EASTER. 255 

must receive it; our minds must be made up to 
obey it. This is the demand. 

Not all hearing of the word is blessed. There 
is a hearing so lacking in appreciation, so indif- 
ferent in its attention, that all good, of it is soon 
lost. There is a hearing which for the time en- 
tertains and believes; but it is so superficial in its 
regard, so shallow in depth of interest, and so 
feeble in persistence, that all good of it soon wilts 
and disappears. There is a hearing with every 
element and promise of thrifty results and a 
blessed harvest; but which soon becomes so en- 
cumbered u with cares, riches, and pleasures of 
this life," that ultimate fruitfulness is hindered 
and choked. There are rocks on which dews and 
rains have no effect to cure their sterility. There 
are sands and deserts through which the rainfalls 
sink away and no fruitfulness ever comes. And 
there are swamps and wilds where everything 
grows with luxuriance, but where the weeds and 
briars are left to take the lead, and no good ever 
comes of the rich and well-moistened soil. And 
so it is with the hearing of the word. It depends 
upon our temper and spirit whether the true 
blessedness of these heavenly dews and rains is 
to result. In themselves they are freighted with 
unspeakable benediction; but devout attention 
and earnest dutifulness on our part are needed to 
get the benefit. Some hear much and learn but 
little; while others hear but little and profit 
much; and the whole difference lies in the honest 
endeavor to be " not a forgetful hearer, but a doer 



256 THE REFRESHING WORD. 

of the work. ' ' And when God says, ( ' Hear, O 
earth, the words of my mouth," the meaning is 
that the whole benefit of His mercies toward us 
now depends largely upon ourselves; and that 
only those who have a hearing ear, an under- 
standing heart, and a willingness to believe and 
obey, can share the rejuvenating power and grace 
which the word of God is meant to impart. 
Therefore the Saviour's admonition is, u He that 
hath ears to hear, let him hear." 

Thy Word, O Lord, like gentle dews, 

Falls soft on hearts that pine ; 
Lord, to Thy garden ne'er refuse 

This heavenly balm divine. 
Watered by Thee, let every tree 

Forth blossom to Thy praise, 
By grace of Thine bear fruit divine, 

Through all the coming days. 



JBibine Jetods, 

Fifth Sunday after Easter. 




And they shall be mine, saith the Lord of hosts, in that day when 
I make up my jewels. — Mal. 3:17. 

)]0D has His jewels. And when we con- 
sider the immensity of His possessions 
we wonder that these jewels should be 
dwellers in this world, even children of 
men, like ourselves. But, as far as we know, 
God has centred more interest, affection, and ex- 
penditure upon our race than upon any other por- 
tion of His universe. Even now He is carrying 
on here a system of gracious operations for the 
gathering of jewels for the adornment of His ever- 
lasting throne. 

Who, then, are these spiritual gems and treas- 
ures? and how are they distinguished? The 
answer is in the context. 

Malachi wrote in very evil times. Great cor- 
ruptions of faith and life had seized upon the Jew- 
ish people. Even many of the priests were infi- 
dels, and the mass of the people were correspond- 
ingly irreverent. But the apostacy was not total. 
God never leaves himself altogether without wit- 
nesses. In the darkest hours of the Church's his- 

17 257 



258 DIVINE JEWELS. 

tory there were always some few lights left. And 
so it was in the days of Malachi. 

The first mark noted of these better people is 
that they did not drift with the corrupt cur- 
rent, — they did not follow the multitude. If 
people would serve God, they dare not be con- 
formed to this world. If Enoch, Methuselah, and 
Noah had gone with the ordinary course of feel- 
ing and sentiment in their day, their names would 
not be on the roll of saints. Abraham, Isaac, and 
Jacob had to separate themselves from the com- 
mon herd of men and to live as strangers and pil- 
grims on the earth. Moses had to alienate him- 
self from Egypt, and Daniel to take firm stand 
against the heathenisms of Babylon. Christ took 
issue with the ruling tone of His day, and chose 
His disciples out of the world, so that while in it 
they were no longer of it. And so the L,ord's 
people are ever a peculiar people, having re- 
nounced the vanities of the world and set them- 
selves to seek a city yet to come. 

A second mark of these people was the principle 
on which they acted. The record says " they feared 
the Lord." Jehovah was an immense reality to 
their souls. It was not that they were alarmed 
and terrified at thought of His presence, and 
crouched like slaves before the majesty of His 
power. It was not that they lived in unmanly 
dread of His anger, lest He should blast them 
with His judgments. But they saw and recog- 
nized in Him the ideal of all perfection, whom it 
was their sublimest happiness to know, honor, 



FIFTH SUNDAY AFTER EASTER. 259 

and obey. They saw and recognized in Him the 
worthiest object of human thought, and a min- 
gling of greatness so exalted with goodness so 
unsearchable as to command their profoundest 
awe and their supremest reverence and affection. 
They saw and recognized in His service the high- 
est good of man, and that to which every one is 
bound by the most sacred of obligations. All this 
was so planted, rooted, and living in their souls 
that they made it their superlative aim to direct 
all their ways and doings with reference to Him, 
ready to spend and be spent as His dutiful and 
loving children. One thought absorbed and con- 
trolled them, and that was, to be on terms with 
so worthy a Being, so great a King, and so tender 
a Father. This was the principle from which 
sprang the difference between them and the per- 
verted multitudes. The Scriptures call it "the 
fear of the Lord" which is ''the beginning of 
wisdom," and which is also the middle and end 
of all sanctity. 

They were also further marked by the way they 
nurtured a?id kept alive this principle. Realizing 
the existence and majesty of God, it is said of 
them that they "thought upon His Name." 

Everything depends on our thinking. Words 
are only the wings of thought. Actions are only 
incarnated thinking. As the thinking is, so is 
the man. Our whole visible life is simply the 
blossom and fruit of invisible thought. As the 
hidden machinery of the clock moves the hands 
to tell the hour; so the mental operation of what 



26o DIVINE JEWELS. 

lies behind all human words and actions deter- 
mines the manifestations of the life. And think- 
ing on God's Name, which signifies Himself, is 
one of the vital things in true religion. God's 
Name is nothing to us if we do not think upon 
it, do not mentally apprehend it, do not spiritually 
take in its significance. The reason why people 
get so far away from Him is, that they do not 
have Him in their thoughts. But these people 
thought upon God's Name. They kept before 
them what God is, and so learned to love, honor, 
and trust in Him, as their supreme good. 

And yet another mark of these people was, 
they took pleasure in communicating with each 
other on the great subject. "They spake often 
one to another." 

When something commanding possesses the 
soul, it is always a delight to find others of like 
mind with ourselves. Full kindred hearts over- 
flow into each other, and the confiding intercourse 
multiplies the pleasure. The human soul loves 
sympathy, and is greatly built up, warmed, and 
established by companionship in common feelings, 
aims, and ideas. ' ' As iron sharpeneth iron, so a 
man sharpeneth the countenance of his friend." 

There w T as a time in Israel when the people 
"took sweet counsel together, and walked unto 
the house of God in company," and their pious 
conversations made even the valley of Baca a 
pleasure. But it was not so in Malachi's time. 
Then the ways of Zion mourned. The faithful 
were few, and everything around them was a grief 



FIFTH SUNDAY AFTER EASTER. 26 1 

and sorrow to their pious souls. They could only 
sigh and cry over the abominations that were 
done. And we can well understand how precious 
it was to them to find one and another here and 
there with whom they could commune touching 
what so engaged their hearts and prayers. 

We know how it was with the sorrowing dis- 
ciples on their way to Emmaus as they conversed 
of their common grief, and what a blessed satis- 
faction it was to them that a stranger who fell in 
with them took such an interest in their conver- 
sation. We know with what fervid emotion they 
afterward referred to that experience, remarking 
how their hearts burned within them while He 
talked with them by the way. And such blessed 
seasons did these saints of the text have as they 
came together in little companies to speak about 
their common griefs, faith, hopes, and interest in 
the Name and promises of God. 

It is hardly in human power for a man to be a 
saint for himself alone. Religion is personal, but 
it is also social. We are particularly exhorted 
not to forsake the assembling of ourselves to- 
gether, but to exhort one another daily. We are 
to teach and admonish one another in Psalms and 
hymns and spiritual songs, singing with grace in 
our hearts to the Lord. All this we profess to do 
in our meetings for holy worship, where the 
Word is handled, instruction given, prayer, con- 
fession, and exhortation made, and the Name of 
the L,ord praised and exalted. Such sacred con- 
verse helps to keep true religion alive. The ut- 



262 DIVINE JEWELS. 

terances of one heart awaken feelings in other 
hearts, and the interaction begets a swelling train 
of influences, the power of which is very great and 
salutary. 

Hence we find it one of the marks of the saint- 
ship of these people that ' ' they spake often one 
to another. ' ' They had not the opportunities for 
it that we have, but they made opportunities, 
and they improved them. And so it must be 
with us, if we would be favorably recorded in 
the book of God. Society in relgion is to be 
cultivated. 

These, and such like people, God calls "jewels" 
— His jewels. It is a precious and significant 
figure. A jewel in its native .state is but a stone, 
lying in darkness, covered with clay, clogged up 
in its matrix. It must be brought out of its 
coarse envelope, cut, ground, polished, and set, in 
order to come to its place of distinction and honor. 
And thus it is with these jewels of God. In their 
native condition they are part of the common con- 
glomerate of earth. They are capable of being 
fashioned into gems of beauty and value ; but all 
passes for nothing until some intelligent power 
from without is brought to bear upon them. 

Much cleansing, testing, and grinding is neces- 
sary to develop their proper worth and beauty. 
Hence many of the severities and hardships expe- 
rienced in this world. God handles, and rubs, and 
tries, and grinds His jewels to bring out their 
qualities. The process is not quickly over. One 
washing, or severe application, is not enough. 



FIFTH SUNDAY AFTER EASTER. 263 

No one becomes a saint in a day, or by mere 
transfer from the quarry to the workshop. Many 
a sharp tool and severe friction has to be employed. 
Cut after cut is inflicted to bring the rough gem into 
shape, rid it of its flaws, and adjust its surfaces. 
First one side and then another is pressed to some 
gritting and tearing substance until it would 
seem as if the intention were to destroy it. But 
so God's jewels are dressed and fashioned. Arch- 
bishop Leigh ton used to say, ' ' Those that God 
has selected for His cabinet He polishes most, and 
has His tools oftenest upon." If we were mere 
clay or common rock, He would not deal with us 
in ways so trying. He takes us for jewels ; He 
knows what we are capable of becoming ; there- 
fore, to bring out our qualities, He takes us 
through oft painful experiences. He does not 
mean harm to us by what He makes us endure, 
but chastens us because we are sons, and is at 
work to trim, and shape, and polish us for the 
greater glory and the higher place. Patient sub- 
mission and humble trust are meanwhile our duty. 
Jewels are a peculiar treasure. Great fortunes 
are stored in them. They are held as a special 
joy, and prized with greatest fondness by their 
owners. And thus precious to God are His peo- 
ple. They are His jewels. He guards and treas- 
ures them. All things are conditioned and or- 
dered with reference to their good and honor. 
Here these jewels of God are in the shop of the 
lapidary. They are not yet set, or "made up." 
They are not yet in place as the displayed orna- 



264 DIVINE JEWELS. 

ments of the King. But God hath appointed a 
"day when He will make up His jewels." 

We know about that day. The Scriptures are 
everywhere full of it, and of what is then to hap- 
pen. It is the day for which all other days were 
made, — the day when the whole mystery of provi- 
dence and grace shall come to final consumma- 
tion. The Iyord is yet to come forth out of His 
royal chambers, put His jewels on, and array Him- 
self in the glories He has all this while been 
accumulating and fashioning. Then He will 
"make tip His jewels '," join them to Himself in all 
the triumphant blessedness of His Kingdom. And 
in that day His people shall be His, and appear 
with Him in their final settings. Then they shall 
glow and shine as the rings of His fingers, the 
bracelets of His arms, the clasps upon His gar- 
ments, the girdle around His breast, the necklace 
on His shoulders, the crowns on His head, the 
sceptre in His hand, and the sapphire throne on 
which He sits ; while the canopy that spans over 
Him, and the very streets, and gates, and even 
foundations of the city in which He dwells shall 
flash and blaze with these immortal brilliants, 
kindled into living beauty by the light of His 
own ineffable Self. 

Jewels are precious even before they are made 
up. Great sums are paid for them. Immense 
store is set upon them. But the common world 
knows lktle or nothing of them. It is only when 
they are "made up" put in place, and appear 
upon their owners on occasion of their use that 



FIFTH SUNDAY AFTER EASTER. 265 

their excellences are manifest and their full 
glory shown. So God's people are dear and pre- 
cious to Him now. Christ hath purchased them 
at a great price, not of silver and gold, but of His 
own precious blood. He knows where they are. 
They are never out of His mind or special care. 
The world does not know them, but God knows 
them, and looks after them, and holds them in 
His regard as His treasures. But only in the day 
when He shall make up His jewels, and the sun- 
light of eternity is lifted upon them will their 
worth and glory appear. 

And a blessed day to God's people that will be. 
The very graves shall open and all the long-for- 
gotten dead shall live again. A new and brighter 
Sun shall rise, never more to set. The everlasting 
day shall then have dawned. Heaven and earth 
shall have come to a new Genesis. 

Dear friends, to this honor and this destiny are 
we poor sinful mortals called. To turn our backs 
upon the emptiness and follies of this perishing 
world, to shape our lives by the principle of Godly 
fear, to think upon Jehovah's Name, to speak 
often one to another in meek confession and faith- 
ful converse, and to plant ourselves upon His 
blessed promises in full confidence and hope in 
His mercy; this is what He asks of us, that we 
may be His in the day when He shall make up 
His jewels. His Name be praised for such un- 
speakable favors ! And His grace be with every 
one willing for dedication to such a fortune ! 



&§t SbutUmt Beparture. 

Ascension Day. 




And a cloud received Him out of their sight. — Acts I : 9. 

" UR Saviour's earthly life had now reached 
its end. The forty days of His stay 
after His resurrection were accomplished. 
The time had come for Him to resume 
the glory which He had with the Father before 
the world was. He had held His last interview 
with His disciples. And now, having led them 
out as far as Bethany, He lifted up His hands 
and blessed them. And it came to pass, while 
He blessed them, He was parted from them and 
carried up into heaven. "And a cloud received 
Him out of their sight." 

There is something very sad in a final separa- 
tion from a good friend. We know how the 
Elders at Miletus were affected when parting from 
St. Paul, who had done so much for them, ' ' sor- 
rowing most of all that they should see his face 
no more." How must it then have touched the 
hearts of these disciples to see their blessed Lord 
withdraw from them His earthly presence for 
ever ! But His departure was so beautiful, so 
assuring, and so full of blessed promise, that 

266 



ASCENSION DAY. 267 

"trjey returned to Jerusalem with great joy; 
and were continually in the temple praising and 
blessing God," — not for their bereavement, but 
for the glad significance embodied in that sublime 
ascension. 

Not without good reason, the Christian Church 
from the beginning has made the Ascension of 
our IvOrd the subject of a special annual Festival. 
The fact is that the Ascension of Christ ranks 
in importance with His birth, death, and resur- 
rection; but, strange to say, much less attention 
is given to it. Many are prompt and devout in 
noting and observing Christmas, Good Friday, 
and Easter; but when it comes to the grand as- 
cension and heavenly enthronement of our blessed 
Lord, though furnishing equal cause for our grati- 
tude and rejoicing, few seem so to regard it, and 
few concern themselves about its celebration. 
This ought not so to be. 

Viewed at its lowest, the Ascension of Christ 
was the crowning of a life of condescension, self- 
denial, and sacrifice for the welfare of perishing 
mankind, which deserves to be held in ever grate- 
ful remembrance. It was abundantly merited by 
such a life; and it shows what those may. expect 
who copy Christ's example and devoutly follow 
His steps. It should therefore fill us with joyous 
confidence in the righteous goodness of the heav- 
enly Father, as it assures us that He will not for- 
get any work or labor of love we may show toward 
His Name, or in ministering to the welfare of His 
Church and people. 



268 THE SUBLIME DEPARTURE. 

But the Ascension of Christ was necessary to the 
completeness of His mediatorial work. The great 
atonement for the congregation of Israel demanded 
more than the slaying of the victim and the gath- 
ering up of its blood. The High Priest had to 
take that blood up into the Holy of holies and 
present it before the divine Presence ere the great 
absolving benediction could go forth. And so 
Christ, our Great High Priest, had to pass into 
the heavens, into the greater and more perfect 
tabernacle not made with hands, into the Holiest 
of holies, not with the blood of goats and calves, 
but with His own blood, in order to obtain re- 
demption for us. Having giving His life a sacri- 
fice for our sins, it yet remained for Him to have 
it accepted in heaven, in order that repentance 
and remission of sins might be preached in His 
Name. Neither His being delivered for our 
offences nor His rising again for our justification 
could effectually avail without His Ascension to 
the Father, there to present His meritorious sacri- 
fice for us. With all the transcendent virtue of 
His death and resurrection, u so long as He re- 
mained on earth, there was no evidence that He 
had won for our nature readmission into Paradise. 
While He hung upon the cross the curse was being 
exhausted; and when He came forth from the tomb 
it was pronounced to be wholly removed ; but the 
taking away of the curse was not necessarily the 
restoring of the nature to all its forfeited privi- 
leges and blessings. If we stop at the resurrec- 
tion, we do not reach all our lost honors. Christ 



ASCENSION DAY. 269 

raised from trie dead can only assure of deliver- 
ance from the grave ; we must have Christ raised 
from the dead and received up into glory for as- 
surance that, springing from the dust, we are to 
soar into God's presence. ' ' Our hope must anchor 
within the veil, or it is not of a sort to satisfy ; 
but that can only be by the entrance there of our 
Representative and Forerunner, even Jesus, our 
great High Priest. Yes, as Christ had to die to 
atone for our sins, and rise again in proof of the 
sufficiency of His sacrifice, so He had to go to 
secure recognition of it in heaven, and to prepare 
a place for us among the many mansions of the 
Father's house. , 

But the Ascension of Christ was necessary in 
still another important respect. Our condition in 
this world, and our preparation for the next, re- 
quire the dispensation of the Spirit to apply the 
truth, and to enlighten, guide, comfort, and sanc- 
tify. Without this "power from on high," — this 
ministration of the Holy Ghost, — there could be 
no effectual salvation for any of us. And that this 
Helper and Advocate might come, Christ had to 
go away, and thus put himself in position to send 
the Comforter. Without the presence and influ- 
ences of the Holy Ghost, the Apostles would have 
been helpless, and the Church never could have 
been securely planted. Indeed, the whole success 
of Christianity in the hearts and lives of men de- 
pends upon the presence, aid, and sanctifying 
power of the Spirit. A blessed thing for man it 
therefore was that Christ ascended to the Father 



27O THE SUBLIME DEPARTURE. 

to send us the help and comfort of the Holy 
Ghost. He had to be thus glorified before the 
Spirit could come in His fullness. 

And a still further reason for being joyfully 
thankful for our Saviour's Ascension is that it 
gave earnest and pledge of our own. He is the 
Head which the members must needs follow. He 
ascended as our Forerunner, and a Forerunner 
means that others are on the same way to the 
same place. His entering for us implies our en- 
trance also. His Ascension took our nature into 
heaven, and as we are branches of that same vine, 
and joined to Him in the same organism, His As- 
cension is virtually our ascension, the first fruits 
of a like harvest to follow. Taking our stand on 
Olivet, and gazing on the blessed Saviour as He 
mysteriously mounts up into the high heavens, 
we behold our L,ord cleaving a way for us into 
that upper world, and giving us example of how 
all believers are to ascend in due time to the same 
heavenly realms. Yes, 

In our blessed Lord's Ascension 
We by faith behold our own. 

Who, then, can question or deny that there is 
as much to enlist our interest and awaken our 
grateful joy in our Saviour's Ascension, as in any 
other event of His marvellous history? Mark 
this, dear friends, and remember it, that you may 
give due honor to an event so blessed and on 
which so much depended. Christmas joy is right; 
and Easter joy is right; but there is no less reason 



ASCENSION DAY. 2J\ 

for joy in the Ascension of our Lord than in His 
birth or His resurrection. 

And if, indeed, we be risen with Christ, and 
have duly entered into the joyous truths of our 
faith, the practical effect is plain. We cannot 
follow the history to its consummation in heaven 
with true appreciation of the facts, without being 
moved to "seek those things which are above, 
where Christ sitteth at the right hand of God." 
Following Him in His Ascension, with true faith 
in its reality, and its great worth to us, there will 
needs go with it a corresponding uplifting of our 
affections to that home of blessedness whither 
He has gone, and which He is making ready for 
all His believing people. Our treasure being 
in heaven, our hearts will also ascend thither. 
Quickened together with Him, it is also our high 
privilege, by the same faith, to sit together with 
Him in heavenly places, and to enjoy through 
hope something of the heavenly life even while 
strangers and pilgrims on the earth. 

Let us, then, as citizens of a celestial common- 
wealth, seek to demean ourselves accordingly, 
ever grow in zeal for that heavenly country, and 
eagerly look for the coming again of our glorified 
Lord to change our vile body into likeness with 
His own, and to receive us unto himself; that, 
where He is, we may be also. 



Sunday after Ascension. 




The Lord said unto my Lord, Sit thou at my right hand until I 
make thine enemies thy footstool. — Ps. no : I. 

"HBSB words tell of the majesty and 
glory of Jesus, our Saviour. 

They ascribe to Him great personal 
dignity. Our hopes do not rest on an 
arm of mere flesh, but on one who is here called 
David's Lord as well as David's Son. David, by 
inspiration, here calls Him Jehovah — a name 
never given to a created being, and he elsewhere 
represents the eternal Father as calling Him God; 
for though He was a true Man, He is at the same 
time true God, — of one substance with the Father, 
' ' God, over all blessed for ever. ' ' 

And along with this personal dignity is very 
sublime exaltation. The eternal Father saith to 
Him, u Sit Thou at My right Hand." 

Our Saviour's life on earth was very lowly and 
humiliated; but, having suffered, being despised 
and rejected by men, persecuted, crucified, and 
slain, God hath highly exalted Him. The right 
hand is always the place of highest honor, and 
thither has Jesus gone. Moreover, He is seated 



SUNDAY AFTER ASCENSION. 273 

there; not made to stand as a servant, but to sit 
as an equal, — to share the place and throne of 
God. When the Word came from eternal Maj- 
esty: "Sit Thou at My right hand," there was 
investment with participation in the government 
and dominion. So Jesus himself declared to the 
Church of the Laodiceans, that He is ' ' Set down 
with His Father in His throne." According to 
St. Paul, "God hath given Him a Name which 
is above every name, that at the Name of Jesus 
every knee should bow, of things in heaven, and 
things in earth, and things under the earth." 
And His Ascension from Mt. Olivet was not only 
a removal from visible connection with the present 
world, but a glorious investiture in heaven. It 
was His exaltation as a Prince and Saviour to 
give repentance and remission of sins to as many 
as will accept Him as their Lord. Yes, it is one 
of the great and glorious truths of our holy Chris- 
tianity that He who was born at Bethlehem, cruci- 
fied on Calvary, and buried in Joseph's tomb, is 
now enthroned as the Lord of angels, the Prince 
of life, the Head over all things. 

But with all, Jesus has enemies in this world. 
We would hardly suppose this. The conclusion 
would rather be that all rational beings would 
' ' kiss the Son ' ' and haste to be on terms with a 
potentate so great and mighty, while He waits to 
be gracious, lest they should be driven from His 
presence and perish forever. We would think 
that such unexampled love and goodness pro- 
moted to the throne would command all hearts 



274 HEAVENLY ENTHRONEMENT. 

and set all the children of men singing Halleluia. 
But it is not so. Although enthroned over all 
and blessed for ever, His reign is not yet enforced 
upon all. There be countless multitudes in the 
enjoyment of His bounties who refuse to have 
Him rule over them. Men hated Him while He 
lived on earth, and the masses of men hate Him 
still, and refuse to accept and serve Him as their 
Lord and Salvation. The story of the cross has 
not melted them, and the glory of His Majesty 
has not awed them into submission. Their 
hearts, their lives, their philosophies, and all 
their temper and thinking, are against His 
rights, teachings, and merciful overtures. What- 
ever they may have to say by way of excuse or 
apology for it they must be rated as His enemies. 
They are under the power of the carnal mind, 
which is not only inimical toward God, but ' ' en- 
mity " itself; and whatever fair or plausible name 
they may assume, they are the seed of the devil, 
— the enemies of the mediatorial King in whom 
our salvation stands. It is a sad record, but it 
is true. 

These ' ' enemies ' ' of the Christ are not to re- 
main for ever. They are bound to be subjugated 
or destroyed. The eternal Father hath decreed 
to put them under the feet of His Anointed, — to 
make them his "footstool." They must be 
brought under, or the Kingship of Jesus must 
remain limited and imperfect. His very invest- 
ment at the right hand of eternal Majesty is fore- 
pledge and guarantee that His rule must go into 



SUNDAY AFTER ASCENSION. 275 

universal effect and absolute enforcement. There 
is nothing in existence that can withstand it; and 
as Christ is L,ord, all antagonism to Him must 
needs be subdued and put down. 

There are different ways of destroying enemies. 

There was once a king who came to his throne 
against very malignant opposition. He was after- 
ward reproached for being so kind and gracious 
to those who had shown such bitter enmity. His 
answer was : ' ' Don' t I destroy my enemies when 
I make them my friends ?' ' And this is the way 
in which Jesus subjugates and destroys many of 
His enemies. It is now the thing to which His 
chief attention is given. These are the days of 
His patience and long suffering, in which He is 
engaged by His ministers, Spirit, and Providence 
to win His enemies into submission, reconcilia- 
tion, and love. He is not willing that any should 
perish, but that all should come to repentance. 
Hence He continues to bear with them, to show 
them every kindness, to ply them with merciful 
overtures and gentle pleadings, that He may bring 
them to a better mind. And by these means 
myriads on myriads of those who were among His 
bitter foes have been persuaded, melted into will- 
ing submission, and made His devoted friends and 
champions, who counted it an honor to suffer or 
even die for Him. In all the ages since Jesus 
ascended up into glory people have thus been 
won from their old satanic master, fallen out of 
the ranks of the enemy, and accepted place under 
the banner of Christ and salvation. We can to- 



2J6 HEAVENLY ENTHRONEMENT. 

day count millions on millions who have been 
persuaded to drop their unreasonable enmity and 
hatred and to accept fellowship with God's saints. 

And this is altogether the most desirable way 
Christ has chosen for destroying His enemies. It 
is one of those blessed results of the heavenly 
enthronement of our Saviour, in which we may 
well rejoice and be glad. But for this, our own 
case would be hopeless, and no happy eternity 
would there be for any of us. It is because Jesus 
now fills the throne that the Holy Ghost is sent, 
that the gifts of mercy are so amply bestowed, that 
a way has been opened for us into the holiest of 
all, and that we are now privileged to anticipate 
a blessed home with Him in glory everlasting. 

But there be masses of Christ's enemies who 
are not melted nor changed by all these gracious 
ministrations to win and save them. His cross 
and tender compassion do not impress them. His 
goodness does not avail to bring them to repent- 
ance. They are so enamored with their own selfish 
likes, so wedded to their carnal ways, so satisfied 
to risk it without troubling to please their right- 
ful King and Benefactor, that their place is with 
His enemies, for their hearts are not with Him. 
What, then, is to be done with such? Surely 
they cannot go on forever in the enjoyment of 
God's merciful goodness, while trampling thus 
upon all His royal rights and making light of all 
His costly arrangements for their salvation. An 
absolute dominion cannot always permit and tol- 
erate incorrigible rebellion. And when all gra- 



SUNDAY AFTER ASCENSION. 277 

cious means have failed, what else remains in 
such cases but to bring armed force to bear for 
their suppression ? Interposing only persistent 
hardihood against all the instrumentalities and 
efforts of patient love, what is left to them but to 
be crushed by that invincible Power which they 
have so unfeelingly defied? There is no other 
remedy. Loath and slow as the King may be to 
resort to it, He cannot be King and not do it. 
The word and provisions of mercy spurned, must 
bring the sword of judgment at the end. 

Jehovah is in a manner silent during these years 
of grace. Sentence against an evil work is not 
executed speedily. It is not that He is indifferent 
as to how His word and mercies are treated. It 
is not that He is slack concerning His promises, 
as men count slackness. It is wholly from His 
long suffering to usward, that He may not ruin 
those whom peradventure would yet be brought 
to terms with His gracious Majesty. But, in the 
very nature of things, there must come a time 
when His forbearance can go no further, — when 
patience is exhausted, — when mercy itself must 
take the form of wrath, — when those who will not 
bend must break. Otherwise the devil will prove 
mightier than God, and human hardihood stronger 
than inflexible justice. 

This then is the fixed and unalterable law: 
" He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved; 
and he that believeth not shall be condemned — 
condemned with an everlasting condemnation. 
Even the worst and most careless can be saved, 



2?8 HEAVENLY ENTHRONEMENT. 

if they will; and those most steeped in rebellion 
against God and righteousness may have free for- 
giveness and eternal life, if they will but throw 
down their arms and submit to the merciful 
Saviour as their King. But, if the people will 
persist in neglecting and rejecting the costly over- 
tures of divine grace and goodness, there remains 
to them nothing but the blackness of darkness 
for ever. It is useless for any to demur, for it 
cannot be otherwise. 

This, then, is the showing of our text. Our 
Jesus has ascended to the right hand of the 
Father, and made co-partner of enthroned God- 
head. He is there as Head over all things for 
His Church, — there to give gifts unto men, — 
there to minister eternal salvation to all who be- 
lieve on Him. He is there in glorified humanity, 
as well as in the glory of Deity, and so with a 
brother's heart wields an almighty arm. In the 
place and power of an invincible King, He has 
experimental knowledge of human weaknesses, 
wants, and sorrows, and can be touched with the 
feeling of our infirmities. Exalted far above all 
principalities and powers, He still cherishes a 
tender good will to us, and would fain bring us 
all to His heavenly glory. 

But the showing also is, that it will not do to 
neglect or despise His word. With Jesus on the 
Throne, it will never do to take sides against 
Him, or to be found among His enemies. Fail- 
ing to be on terms with Him, we must needs be 
friendless in the last extremity. And therefore 



SUNDAY AFTER ASCENSION. 279 

our supremest duty, as our highest privilege, is, 
to seek His favor, accept His offers, and serve 
Him all our days. 

Princes to His imperial Name 

Bend their bright sceptres down ; 
Dominions, thrones, and powers rejoice, 

To see Him wear the crown. 

Archangels sound His lofty praise 

Through every heavenly street ; 
And lay their highest honors down, 

Submissive at His feet. 

Those soft, those blessed feet of His. 

That once rude irons tore, — 
High on a throne of light they stand, 

And all the saints adore. 

This is the Man, th' exalted Man, 

Whom we, unseen, adore ; 
But when our eyes behold His face 

Our hearts shall love Him more. 



grtrengti) an* atnmfort 

Whit Sunday. 




They that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength : they 
shall mount up with wings as eagles ; they shall run and not be weary ; 
they shall walk and not faint. — ISA. 40 : 31. 

51VERY Christian has a race to run, heights 
to ascend, burdens to bear, and victories 
to achieve. And for this every Chris- 
tian needs strength and a large degree 
of spiritual power. In an unsympathizing and 
hostile world, such as we have to deal with, re- 
ligion cannot be made a mere by-play or recrea- 
tion. Humanity is so weak; there is in it so 
much indisposition to spiritual activity; carnal 
preferences are so strong; and we are so prone to 
be turned aside by temptations and discourage- 
ments, that a good store of active energy is re- 
quired to bring us through in safety. 

Spiritual power is the great want of the Church. 
It was so in the ill days in which Isaiah lived, 
and it is the same to-day with many professed 
Christians. Some have never half entered into 
their profession. Some who were once among 
the brightest and most devoted, have become 
weary and slack in their Christian life. Some 
have fallen victims to temptation, and never re- 



WHIT SUNDAY. 28 I 

turned to duty. And so the Church, which was 
meant to be Christ's spotless Bride, presents the 
aspect of a hospital, full of impotent people, weak, 
ailing, prostrate, and scarcely alive in spiritual 
things. 

And a blessed thing it is for us that help is 
within our reach. Apostatizing Israel was not so 
far gone that they might not have their strength 
renewed and their alienations cured. There was 
still a balm in Gilead and a competent Physician 
there. And the same is even more blessedly true 
in our case. The means of improvement are at 
hand. It is not by might or power of an earthly 
sort, but by that Holy Spirit, given of God to 
help our infirmities. 

When Christ ascended to the Father He sent 
forth the Holy Ghost, as this day commemorates, 
whose presence abides with His Church from age 
to age, and whom the Father is ever willing and 
ready to bestow upon them that ask Him. There 
is indeed abundance of quickening and renewing 
power for those who seek it. 

We know what the Holy Ghost did for the first 
disciples ; and what blessed transformations He 
wrought in them. New graces and powers came, 
lifting them high above all that they were before. 
Presently they showed themselves knowing, con- 
fident, joyous, and efficient to a degree which as- 
tonished the world. They had been weak, timid, 
forgetful. They had forsaken their Lord in the 
hour of trial. But by the Baptism of Pentecost 
they were confirmed, established, and made strong 



282 STRENGTH AND COMFORT. 

in all spiritual qualities. All fear of man, all 
doubting, and all dread of death were effectually 
cast out. He who denied his Lord when con- 
fronted by a maid was now emboldened openly to 
accuse Sanhedrim and people with the murder of 
the Christ, and to preach with such heavenly unc- 
tion that thousands were convicted, turned from 
their enmity, and at once enrolled under the banner 
of the crucified One. O for such another Baptism 
for the Church ! What new life it would bring ! 

And why should we not have it? There are 
indeed degrees in the manifestations of the Spirit's 
power. The Holy Ghost does not work in all to 
the same extent, because all are not called to the 
same specific service or sphere of action. The 
first disciples needed more than is needed now, 
and they got it; but the same Spirit still lives and 
abides with the Church. The promises concern- 
ing Him hold now that held then. Like provision 
for like necessities still exists, and should be more 
earnestly sought. God's hand is not shortened 
that He cannot save, nor His ear heavy that He 
cannot hear. Responsibility for our deficiencies 
and defects cannot be charged on Him, nor on any 
changes or weakening in the economy of His 
grace. If Christians now are invalid and infirm, 
it is not because God has withdrawn His gifts and 
promises. Many only half believe ; or compro- 
mise with the world ; or enslave themselves to 
their selfish greed and ambition ; or give them- 
selves to vanity and folly ; and so load themselves 
with thick clay that they cannot rise, and then 



WHIT SUNDAY. 283 

blame God and religion for it, concluding that 
grace has either lost its virtues, or was never 
meant to work the same in them as in the saints 
of old. It is a sad and ruinous mistake. God is 
the same ; Christ is the same ; the Holy Ghost is 
the same ; humanity is the same ; the promises 
are the same ; but people's hearts are unbelieving, 
selfish, earthy, and hence their disability and 
spiritual wretchedness. 

How then are we to renew our strength and 
enter into the full power and blessedness of our 
religion ? The text very plainly tells us. They 
are the strong ones who ' ' zvait ufto?i the Lord. ' ' 

Important things are included in this simple 
and beautiful phrase. It implies a deep and per- 
vading sense of our own unfaithfulness, guilt, and 
need. It implies a firm confidence in the power 
and grace of God and His willingness to help us. 
It implies the letting go of what is contrary to 
Him and earnest seeking unto Him as our only 
hope and strength. It means a waiting on Him 
for instruction and guidance, with a heart willing 
to hear and obey, as the pupil waits upon his 
teacher, and as a servant waits upon his master. 
It means a diligent and devout attendance upon 
His appointments and ordinances by and through 
which He gives His Spirit and builds up His peo- 
ple in faith and communion with Himself. It 
means a persevering obedience to His word and 
patient waiting for the fulfilment of all that He 
hath spoken. 

And in such a disposition of ourselves the prom- 



284 STRENGTH AND COMFORT. 

ises are great and assuring. All who thus ' ' wait 
upon the Lord shall renew their strength. ' ' The 
doubtful and timid heart will find confirmation, 
courage, and confidence. Views of truth and duty 
will become clear and decided. The affections 
will cease to waver and be more definitely and 
warmly fixed on things above. The whole pur- 
pose of the spiritual man will become more con- 
centrated, vigorous, and determined. Tempta- 
tions will lessen and lose power. Ability to see 
and withstand wrong will be increased. And a 
strength and decision of character will be devel- 
oped that cannot be swayed or fail to produce 
steady consistency of life and influence for good 
and blessedness. 

They who thus wait upon the Lord shall also 
( ' mount tip with wings as eagles. " It is the 
nature of piety to lift and exalt. There is some- 
thing in it to release the spirit, to give it wings 
for heavenward ascensions, far above the vexa- 
tions and attractions of this present world. Christ 
having ascended into heaven, the minds and 
hearts of His faithful people ascend with Him, 
and anticipate the time when they shall reach the 
same exalted heights. The wings on which they 
rise are the wings of faith, and love, and blessed 
hope. Waiting upon the Lord, we realize that 
we belong to a heavenly kingdom, — that our 
proper home is above the clouds, — and that pres- 
ently Our Lord will come to take us thither. 

Furthermore, they that wait upon the Lord 
shall be wonderfully facilitated in their race. 



WHIT SUNDAY. 285 

" They shall run and not be weary y They will 
not feel it a hardship to hold on their way as 
Christians. They will not grow tired of their 
profession or their faith. There will come an 
ever-increasing inspiration to animate their souls 
and lighten their steps. Whatever there may be 
to weaken or discourage, there is always enough 
to quicken and exhilarate, and to give courage for 
ever new attempts till the goal is won. There is 
no such thing as exhaustion in those who have 
come into the full spirit of faith and waiting on 
God. Their heart is in their religion, and the 
Spirit so helps their infirmities that they never 
feel fatigue in the work of gaining heaven. They 
are enabled to run without becoming weary, and 
to walk without becoming faint. Persuaded and 
satisfied as to what awaits them in the end, they 
hold on their way, ever rejoicing, ever growing, 
and ever safe. 

Let it then, dear friends, be the first, the high- 
est, and the constant aim of our lives to wait upon 
the Lord. In His house, in His ordinances, in 
hopeful dutifulness in what pertains to us as 
Christians, let us wait on Him. This is the way 
to strengthen our souls. This will elevate us 
above the turmoil, adversities, and distractions 
that surround us here. This will bring us into 
closest fellowship with the heavenly powers and 
arm us with ability to overcome in the day of 
trial. And thus, when He upon whom we wait 
shall come, we shall be found of Him in peace 
and rest with Him for ever. 



Trinity Sunday. 



For of Him, and through Him, and to Him, are all things : to 
whom be glory for ever. Amen. — Rom. ii : 36. 



^\ 




<IDO subject is so overwhelming to the human 
understanding as the Being and Nature 
of God. It is too high, too deep, too un- 
searchable for the mind of man to com- 
pass. Though at the base of all things, all relig- 
ion, all right thinking, it opens out into boundless 
realms and depths which will require all eternity 
to explore. 

Yet there are some things which we can know, 
and which we need to know, and to have ever 
present to our minds, that we may rightly adjust 
ourselves to our place in the universe, and so 
make the best of our lives. 

Whether we can fully understand it or not, it is 
evident to our consciousness, assumed in Revela- 
tion, and sustained by all just reason, that there 
is, and necessarily must be, an original and al- 
mighty Being, greater in all directions than the 
whole created universe. This is so deeply inlaid 
in the whole framework of our nature, and so ac- 
cordant with all its instincts and mental activities, 

2S6 



TRINITY SUNDAY. 287 

that the denial of it comes upon the soul like a 
cyclone, tearing up all that is deepest rooted in 
its consciousness and most vital to its peace. 

In logical consistency this Eternal Source of 
all things, whom we call God, is one, — an indi- 
vidual and indivisible Essence ; — for there cannot 
be more than One Almighty, One Supreme. 
Even those who have distributed their worship 
among "lords many and gods many" still held 
to the thought of One Almighty and Supreme 
God. And Paul expressed the teaching of all 
holy prophets when he said, ' ' Though there be 
that are called gods, to us there is but 0?ie God." 

Nevertheless, the Scriptures teach that there is, 
in this One Supreme and Almighty God, some- 
thing of a plural or complex manner of being and 
manifestation. Hence arises what we call the 
doctrine of the Trinity, to the contemplation of 
which the appointment of this day invites us. 

There is what is called God, the Father. There 
is what is called God, the Son. And there is 
what is called God, the Holy Ghost. And these 
Three, while distinguishable in some respects 
from each other, are nevertheless One, — a Three- 
ness in One, and a Oneness in Three ; that is to 
say, a Three One, or Triune God ; as all proper 
Christians believe and confess concerning the in- 
finite and unsearchable object of their faith and 
worship. 

It is not our belief that the Three are One in 
precisely the same sense that they are Three. 
The structure of our minds could not take in such 



288 THE ADORABLE GODHEAD. 

an arithmetical contradiction. Our doctrine on 
this mysterious and unsearchable subject is that 
God is One in the sense to which we give the 
confused name of Substance, or Essence ; and that 
He is Three in a sense to which we give the im- 
perfect name of Person. We cannot fully define 
or determine what is this Substance, nor what is 
this Personality. The subject reaches too far be- 
yond human terms or conceptions to do more than 
dimly indicate the truth. Some have attempted 
to explain and define, but have found themselves 
launched upon a sea without bottom or shore, the 
same as in all attempts to tell what God is. It is 
like the child in St. Augustine's dream trying to 
dip the ocean dry with its little cup. The most, 
the clearest, and the best that the Church has 
been able to say on this profound subject appears 
in what is called the Athanasian Creed, where we 
read : 

' ' The true Christian faith is this : that we wor- 
ship One God in Trinity, and Trinity in Unity ; 
neither confounding the Persons nor dividing the 
Substance. For there is One Person of the 
Father, another of the Son, and another of the 
Holy Ghost ; but the Godhead of the Father, of 
the Son, and of the Holy Ghost is all One, the 
Glory Equal, the Majesty Coeternal. Such as 
the Father is, such is the Son, and such is the 
Holy Ghost : the Father uncreate, the Son un- 
create, and the Holy Ghost uncreate ; the Father 
incomprehensible, the Son incomprehensible, and 
the Holy Ghost incomprehensible ; the Father 



TRINITY SUNDAY. 289 

eternal, the Son eternal, and the Holy Ghost 
eternal. And yet they are not three Eternals, 
but One Eternal. As also there are not three un- 
created, nor three incomprehensibles, but One 
uncreated and One incomprehensible ; so likewise 
the Father is Almighty, the Son Almighty, and 
the Holy Ghost Almighty ; and yet they are not 
three Almighties, but One Almighty. So the 
Father is God, the Son is God, and the Holy 
Ghost is God ; and yet they are not three Gods, 
but One God. So likewise the Father is Lord, 
the Son is Lord, and the Holy Ghost is Lord ; and 
yet not three Lords, but one Lord. For like as 
we are compelled by the Christian Verity to ac- 
knowledge every Person by Himself to be God 
and Lord : so are we forbidden by the true Chris- 
tian Religion to say there be three Gods, or three 
Lords." 

And as to the distinction between the Persons 
in the one Godhead, the same Confession further 
says: 

" The Father is made of none, neither created, 
nor begotten. The Son is of the Father alone, 
not made, nor created, but begotten. The Holy 
Ghost is of the Father, and of the Son, neither 
made, nor created, nor begotten, but proceeding. 
So there is one Father, not three Fathers; one 
Son, not three Sons; one Holy Ghost, not three 
Holy Ghosts. And in this Trinity none is afore, 
or after other; none is greater, or less than an- 
other; but the whole three Persons are coeternal 
together, and coequal: so that in all things, as 
19 



29O THE ADORABLE GODHEAD. 

aforesaid, the Unity in Trinity, and the Trinity 
in Unity, is to be worshipped. " 

And yet, with all, who can fathom these depths? 
Who can penetrate the inscrutable Mystery ? 

But why should reason stagger at the presenta- 
tion of Unity in Trinity, and Trinity in Unity. 
Throughout all nature we find it written on nearly 
everything. ' ' Like begetteth like, and the great 
sea of existence in each of its uncounted waves 
h6ldeth up a mirror to its Maker. Iyike begetteth 
like, and the spreading tree of being, with each 
of its trefoil leaves, pointeth at the Trinity of 
God." 

It is from the Scriptures alone that we get the 
doctrine of the Trinity. The proofs of it do not 
rest on deductions of reason, or on any mere 
analogies of nature. But when people come with 
their rationalistic talk of contradictions and ab- 
surdities, it is our right to point out triune things 
in nature, and to demand of them to show how 
this could be, as we find in actual fact, before 
allowing their arguments against the triunity of 
God. Nor need we go far to find instances enough 
of three in one, and one in three. 

Consider for example the sun in the heavens, 
deluging and warming the earth with the glory 
of its beautiful light. In that grand luminary we 
observe a great material orb, light radiating from 
that orb, and a warming heat emitted through 
those rays of light. Here are three things, dis- 
tinguishable from each other, and yet these three 
are inseparably one. The sun viewed as an orb 



TRINITY SUNDAY. 29 1 

is one thing, with its own distinct properties; the 
light sent forth from it is another, also with dis- 
tinct properties; and the warmth from that light 
is still another, with other properties; and each 
separately and the three conjointly are called the 
sun. A man contemplating the grand centre of 
our planetary system calls it the sun. Right 
Another stands where the rays of sunshine pour 
down upon him, and he says he is standing in the 
sun. Right again. Another comes in oppressed 
with the solar heat, and he says, the sun is hot; 
and he also is right. The mind readily discrimi- 
nates between these three things; and yet they are 
not three suns, but one sun. They are not all 
the same. They are quite distinguishable. And 
yet they are one and the same sun. 

Consider man himself, designated in the Scrip- 
tures as eminently u the image of God." And 
what is he but a trinity, — a three in one? The 
Apostle describes him as body, soul, and spirit," 
— physical corporiety, life, and a thinking and 
willing intelligence. Here are three, and these 
three are one. Taken separately, we speak of each 
as man, the same as when taken together. We 
speak of a tall, handsome, deformed, or strong 
man, when thinking only of the body; of a 
talented, intelligent, or stupid man, with only 
his mind in view; and we say the man is dead 
when thinking only of the discontinuance of his 
animal life. But they are not three men, but one 
man, — a trinity in unity. Nor are these mere 
isolated instances. 



292 THE ADORABLE GODHEAD. 

Matter, and breath, and instinct unite in all the beasts of the field ; 

Substance, coherence, and weight fashion the fabrics of the earth ; 

The will, the doing, and the deed combine to frame a fact; 

The stem, the leaf, and the flower ; beginning, middle, and end ; 

Cause, circumstance, consequent ; and every three is one. 

Yea, the very breath of man's life consisteth of a trinity of vapors, 

And the noonday light is a compound, the triune shadow of Jehovah. 

The crust of the earth is a triple unity of pri- 
mary, secondary, and tertiary stratifications. A 
modern chemist finds all matter a unity of attrac- 
tion, repulsion, and vitality. A late attempt to 
give c ' a basic outline of universology, ' ' comprises 
the whole unity of things in three," — "unism, 
duism, and trinism." And even the spherity of 
the material worlds is but the clothing of the 
triangle, the symbol of the Trinity of God. 

Religion itself is a trinity, — a knowing, a 
doing, and an experience; and these three are 
one. 

It is the great glory of Christianity that it 
stands between an abstract, cold and heartless 
Deism and an idolatrous polytheism, completing 
what is wanting in the one, correcting what is 
false in the other, and rendering effective and 
profitable the better conceptions of both. It calls 
away from the altars of a plurality of gods, and 
lifts the soul to the One eternal; yet that Eternal 
in a threefold aspect, showing the stream of an 
infinite Love from the Father in our creation, 
from the Son in our redemption, and from the 
Holy Ghost in our renewal and sanctification. 
Nor is it possible to enter into the full under- 
standing, appreciation, and enjoyment of the love 



TRINITY SUNDAY. 293 

of God, apart from faith in what is embraced in 
the doctrine of the Trinity, which includes the 
proper Deity of Christ and the Personality of 
the Holy Ghost. And whatever seeming contra- 
diction there may be in it, and however confusing 
it may be to our poor understanding, the Church 
and the world can ill afford to reject it. 

The question may be asked, Why trouble our- 
selves with a doctrine so deep, so hard to compre- 
hend, and so much in controversy? Some think 
it makes no great matter whether we believe and 
hold to it, or lay it aside as beyond our concern. 
Alas, it is a sad and perilous thing for a Christian 
so to conclude. All proper hopes for man rest 
upon the truth of the doctrine of the Trinity. It 
underlies the whole substance of saving faith. 
To throw it out is to emasculate Christianity. 
Reject the doctrine of the Trinity, and Jesus is 
no longer a Saviour in the sense of the Scriptures, 
and cannot be accepted as able to save unto the 
uttermost. Put aside the doctrine of the Trinity, 
and you brand all worship of Christ as wicked 
idolatry, deny that there is any atoning merit in 
His blood, and repudiate Him as an impostor 
who had the temerity to make himself equal with 
God. Deny the doctrine of the Trinity, and you 
necessarily discredit a large part of the most 
precious things in the Bible, and demand a re- 
vision and material rescission of its language and 
contents from the first verse of Genesis to the 
Amen of the Revelation. And so long as it is 
of any account to us to hold fast our hope and 



294 THE ADORABLE GODHEAD. 

consolation in a Divine Saviour, trusting for re- 
demption through His blood, we cannot afford to 
let go, or even to think lightly of, the doctrine of 
the Triunity of God. 

And what if there are depths and altitudes in it 
beyond the reach of our plodding capacity? 
What if we cannot take into our feeble under- 
standing the how or the possibility of it ? God is 
the highest, the most inscrutable, the most hid- 
den, and the most unknowable to man of any being 
in the universe ; and we can just as easily compre- 
hend His Triunity, as we can understand how He 
can fill immensity and eternity, or be present at 
every point in all time and space with all the 
fullness of His infinite being. We do not yet 
half know ourselves. Who can form a compre- 
hensible estimate of a mind, a soul, a spirit, or 
how the ego within us is connected with the house 
in which it lives, or with the machinery through 
which it acts ! What right then have we to un- 
dertake to decide what is possible or impossible 
in the nature and conditions of infinite and self- 
existent Godhead? 

I find no fault with Revelation because of its 
mysteries. It is what sound reason would expect. 
In the very nature of the case it could not be 
otherwise. A divine Revelation without mys- 
teries, or a God who does not transcend man's 
comprehension, is to be discredited and rejected. 
And though I cannot look so far into the secrets 
of eternal Godhead as to be able to understand 
and tell how and why the object of my profound- 



TRPNITY SUNDAY. 295 

est adoration is a Trinity, it would be the height 
of presumption for me on that account to insist 
on an expurgation of the Bible. Why should I, 
a worm of to-day, quarrel with Eternal Majesty 
for revealing Himself as One in Three any more 
than fault Him for making the sun so glorious 
that I cannot look into its noonday blaze with 
naked eye? Nay, I praise Him the more for 
giving me the intimations of such everlasting 
progress in intellectual and spiritual growth and 
expansion in the explorations of His Being, His 
attributes, and His works. 

L,et us then, dear friends, humble our proud 
reason before Him, of whom, and through whom, 
and to whom are all things. Accepting the 
Scriptures as His Revelation, let us be content to 
receive and hold fast its statements, much as they 
may confound our capacity to explain them. It 
is well to follow our reason where we have no 
better guide ; but when we have a word from 
Heaven it is better still to bring our thinking into 
captivity to a large and unquestioning faith. The 
sacred Scriptures plainly teach us that there is a 
Father who is God, a Son who is God, and a Holy 
Ghost who is God ; but that there are not three 
Gods, but one God. We are abundantly assured 
that divine compassion has been felt for us in the 
Father-heart in heaven ; that the same has been 
manifested in the incarnation and mediatorial 
work of Jesus ; and that it is rendered effectual to 
our salvation by the operations of the Holy 
Ghost. On this let us confidently rest, and 



296 THE ADORABLE GODHEAD. 

thereon build our hopes. And if we err in so 
doing, we err with the great congregation of 
Christian believers on earth and in heaven, and 
may feel sure we shall not be condemned for hon- 
oring the Son, even as we honor the Father. 

Holy, Holy, Holy, Lord, 

God of hosts, eternal King, 
By the Heavens and earth adored, 

Angels and archangels sing 
Chanting everlastingly 
To the blessed Trinity. 

Alleluia ! Lord to Thee, 

Father, Son, and Holy Ghost, 
Three in One, and One in Three, 

Join me with the heavenly host, 
Singing everlastingly 
To the blessed Trinity. 



a jFaitftfuI jgerbant 

First Sunday after Trinity. 




His Lord said unto him, Well done, good and faithful servant ; 
thou hast been faithful over a few things, I will make thee ruler over 
many things ; enter thou into the joy of thy lord. — Matt. 25 : 23. 

" HIS was one of the servants in the Sa- 
viour's Parable of the Talents, where 
He compares the kingdom of heaven to 
a man travelling into a far country, who 
called his servants and delivered unto them his 
goods, giving to each a certain number of talents 
with which to trade and get gain until he should 
return. 

The servants of those times were mostly persons 
captured in war, and often were people of intelli- 
gence, skill, and business capacity. Except that 
their lords had property in them, and had the 
right to command them, they were not at all to 
be confounded with the slaves with which we 
used to be familiar. Nor was it uncommon for 
one and another of these ancient masters to let 
out their money or properties to the sole manage- 
ment and control of their servants to do business 
for the mutual profit of owner and servant. And 
it is a servant of this description that is here in 
view. 

297 



298 A FAITHFUL SERVANT. 

The Saviour would teach us that it is after this 
manner He deals with us as His servants. All 
men are His; but He does not hold nor force them 
as slaves. He does not lash them to their tasks. 
He gives them liberty of action. He lets or de- 
livers to them certain talents, which they are free 
to use as they deem best, only that they must 
account to Him for them in the end. 

This servant had been entrusted with five tal- 
ents, a very large sum of money. It was double 
the amount given to another servant, and five to 
one of what was given to a third. 

God does not give to every one alike. There 
are often very wide diversities. Some are rich 
and some are poor. Some have much and others 
have but little. And yet these distributions are 
not arbitrary or capricious. They are made on a 
just principle, — u to every man according to his 
several ability." Kach gets as much as he can 
handle. 

These "talents" include all our endowments, 
faculties, powers, possessions, and means and op- 
portunities for profiting ourselves and others, 
and for securing gain for the great Master. 
There are diversities of gifts. "To one is given 
the word of wisdom ; to another, the word of 
knowledge ; to another, faith ; to another, the 
gift of healing ; to another, the working of 
miracles ; to another, prophecy ; to another, the 
discerning of spirits ; to another, divers kinds of 
tongues; to another, the interpretation of tongues. " 
And as with these spiritual gifts, so in respect to 



FIRST SUNDAY AFTER TRINITY. 299 

natural capacity, culture, fortune, office, relations, 
and positions in the world ; all of which are par- 
celled out according to the divine will and good- 
ness. And all these together constitute the tal- 
ents with which the great Master has entrusted us. 

This servant made good use of what he had re- 
ceived. It was meant that he should use these 
talents and trade with them, and he did it. 

And this is what our Lord intends for us to do 
with our gifts and talents. Whether they be 
great or small, many or few, they are meant for 
active, earnest, and gainful use. The Lord in 
giving them means business, — honest, resolved, 
faithful, and soul-eugaging business. When par- 
ents give their children capital, it is not that they 
may waste it, bury it, or throw it away on idle 
prodigality ; but that they may go into business 
with it, invest it in profitable trade, make their 
fortunes out of it, and be able to give a good ac- 
count of it to the credit and joy of all concerned. 
And so the divine command with regard to the 
pounds and talents given us is: " Occupy till I 
come" — use them, work out of them all the profit 
you can. 

Just what sort of business this servant did is 
not told ; nor is it prescribed to us precisely how 
and where we are to lay hold in order to make the 
most of our talents. In general, the opportunities 
lie all around us, in such spheres of life as Provi- 
dence has assigned us, or to which He seems to 
be calling us. We are where we are, and have 
what we have, that we may act and do profitable 



30O A FAITHFUL SERVANT. 

service for Christ and ourselves. As pastors, 
teachers, parents, Churchmen, learners, profes- 
sionals, business men, and masters and members 
of homes, we all have the openings for good, 
usefulness and gain near at hand, and can make 
much out of them by proper diligence and fidelity. 
In a measure we may choose our fields, spheres, 
and methods of operation; and a true religious, 
honest, and dutiful spirit in such offices and rela- 
tions will never fail to yield us honorable gain. 
The great matter is, to be true to God and duty. 

This man was pronounced a ' ' good and faithful 
servant;" that is, he had well filled his position. 
He was minded to do his best for his lord; and 
he did it. He was willing, thoughtful, conscien- 
tious, diligent, earnest, and persevering. He felt 
that he had work to do, and responsibilities to 
meet; and he gave himself to them in good earnest. 
In the nature of things, his career was not all 
sunshine. He had his difficulties, perplexities, 
disappointments, and reverses, as all people in 
this world have; but he was not therefore dis- 
heartened. He pressed on through fair weather 
and through bad. He did not give up because 
things were not always to his mind. He believed 
in the goodness of his lord. He knew what the 
master expected of him. And he kept at it with- 
out faltering, surrender, or despair. With cheer- 
ful alacrity he held on his way, doing the best in 
his power, and never falling out with his duty. 

And this is what the Lord expects of us. He 



FIRST SUNDAY AFTER TRINITY. 3OI 

demands no impossibilities, and has covenanted 
that His grace shall be sufficient for us in all 
emergencies, if only we are true to Him. But 
sloth, negligence, and indifference to our duty 
and calling He will not and cannot honor. We 
are not responsible for what we cannot do; but 
u he that knoweth to do good, and doeth it not, 
to him it is sin." There was one servant who 
hid his talent and let it lie unused, having made 
nothing out of it, murmuring perhaps that he 
had not as others had. But he fared badly in the 
end. A lazy, unwilling, or fault-finding soul can 
never hope for the Lord's commendation. There 
are people on whose tombstones it may be written: 
" Here lies the man who never did an hour's work 
for God in all his life. ' ' Men may be very active 
and energetic in affairs of this world, but all for 
self and pelf, and never in the way of dutifulness 
to Him who has given them the power to do. 
Neither the slothful, the careless, the selfish, nor 
any mere Mammon- worshippers, can be called 
the Lord's good and faithful servants; nor yet 
those who do well for a time and then drop off, 
or do only in some things while others are left. 
This servant was held accountable for his tal- 
ents. It was u a long time " before his lord came 
back from his journeyings; but he came; and 
when he came it was to receive account of what 
had been done with his money. And so it is ap- 
pointed unto us. Our Lord will call every one to 
account for the manner in which we have dealt 
with His gifts and graces, whether rich or poor. 



302 A FAITHFUL SERVANT. 

He means to reward the faithful and honor their 
fidelity; but He must first see whether they have 
duly appreciated His kindness, and with what 
sort of activity and temper they have dealt toward 
Him. Hence, He "reckoneth with them;" not 
in the way of harsh and severe arraignment, as 
culprits to be punished; but as servants whom 
He is anxious to reward and bless. The day of 
judgment is not meant to distress us, harm us, or 
make our comforts less. There is no judgment 
unto condemnation to those who are in Christ; 
nevertheless there must be inquiry respecting our 
fidelity and works, on which our rewards depend. 
A school examination may be a time of anxiety 
to the pupils; but it is not for their disturbance 
or disadvantage. It is simply to ascertain their 
progress in learning, and their fitness for advance- 
ment, for which they have meanwhile been can- 
didates. And so it is with Christ's reckoning 
with His servants. It is for our promotion and 
greater joy, and not for our grief. 

The inquest will, indeed, necessarily be strict, 
impartial, and just. Nothing can be kept back, 
— nothing can be hid. People may wonder how 
the lives and deeds of so many myriads on myriads 
can be so minutely examined ; but there will be 
no difficulty in the case. Everything concerning 
every one is fully written on each one's own soul, 
and a single glance from the Lord will read and 
reveal every item. There can be no shams, no 
trickery, no misrepresentation, no disguises, no 
mistakes. Every one's whole life will stand open, 



FIRST SUNDAY AFTER TRINITY. 303 

and what each has been doing with his talents 
will appear. There can be no concealment or 
equivocation. And as the facts are, so will the 
award of our Lord and Judge be. 

People generally think of that time, if they 
think of it at all, with some degree of alarm and 
terror. The best of us have been such unprofit- 
able servants that we naturally fear to be called 
to account. But it is necessary and part of the 
process to bring us to glory. All our occupy- 
ing and doing for our Lord would be a bootless 
drudgery, if He were never to come again to take 
account of us, and to adjudge to us our promised 
reward. Our faith and devotion would have no 
outcome, no crown, without this. The gladdest 
day this servant ever had was the day his lord 
returned, — even the day of reckoning. Often had 
he been in doubt and danger by reason of his in- 
firmities and failures. Many had been his anxi- 
eties, his trials, his straits, his discouragements. 
But he had faith in the goodness of his Lord ; and 
when tempted to despond he rallied to the music 
of the promises, and held on even in his tears. 
And now, at last, his Lord came ; and with holy 
boldness and joy he hastened to meet Him, his 
heart bounding with delight and words of exulta- 
tion bursting from his lips : u Lord, thou deliver- 
edst unto me five talents ; behold, I have gained 
besides them five talents more. ' ' 

And so it shall be with all who truly love the 
Saviour, and are honestly set to serve Him. Be- 
lieving in Him, working for Him, and awaiting 



3O4 A FAITHFUL SERVANT. 

His coming, the final meeting will be one of tri- 
umphant gladness. And then shall come the 
blessed commendation, ' ' Well done, good and 
faithful servant ; thou hast been faithful over a 
few things, I will make thee ruler over many 
things ; enter thou into the joy of thy L,ord." 

Dear friends, a blessed assurance is thus given 
us. No faith in Jesus shall ever be disappointed. 
No efforts, labors, gifts, sacrifices, or sufferings, — 
no prayers, tears, sighs, or loving anxieties for 
Him and His cause, — shall ever be lost. Their 
record is on high. They are all treasured in 
heaven. And not so much as the gift of a cup 
of cold water given in His Name and for His sake 
shall lose its reward. 

And that reward ! How does it here loom up 
before us ! How vastly does it transcend the best 
that any one can do to deserve it ! The measure 
of it is not the greatness of the work we have done, 
but the faith and fidelity with which we have 
done the little that is within our power. It is the 
faithfulness over the few things that brings ruler- 
ship over many things. The mercenary spirit is 
not the true Christian spirit. Not for wages-nor 
reward, but out of love and devotion to our Lord 
and His cause we are to serve Him. Neverthe- 
less, where such love is the motive reward will 
come, — reward far beyond the desert of our doing. 
True and loving service carries joy and blessed- 
ness in itself. Where that exists and controls 
there is always an inward satisfaction, of which 
nothing can deprive the soul. But beyond this 



FIRST SUNDAY AFTER TRINITY. 305 

is the approval and commendation of the L,ord, 
and glad welcome into His own joy, with promise 
of rulership and dominion. 

The holiest and most useful will, of course, rise 
the highest and share the most. "They that be 
wise shall shine as the brightness of the firma- 
ment ; and they that turn many to righteousness, 
as the stars for ever and ever. ' ' But for the weak- 
est and the poorest, if faithful in doing for the 
Master the best they can, there is blessedness 
eternal. 
20 



difference in &iHorgi)iwn:0. 

Second Sunday after Trinity. 




Two men went up into the temple to pray ; the one a Pharisee, and 
the other a publican. — Luke 18 : 10. 

"HESE two men were both religiously 
moved. They both honored the divine 
ordinances and appointments. And they 
both desired God's favor and blessing. 
They both ' ' went up to the temple to pray. ' ' So 
far they both acted commendably, and furnish us 
an example to be followed. Neglecting the temple 
and the services God has ordained, we cannot 
count on His favor. We cannot have the benefit 
of God's house if we go not to it, or give no atten- 
tion to those things for which it has been estab- 
lished. When God institutes ordinances He re- 
quires their observance. 

But the mere formalities of religion are not 
enough. Both these men went up to the temple 
to pray, and they both stood and prayed ; but one 
of them went down to his house justified, and the 
other did not. If anything, the one who was the 
most punctilious was the least favored. Rites, 
ceremonies, and outward observances are nothing 
if unaccompanied with a right heart and a right 
spirit. 



SECOND SUNDAY AFTER TRINITY. 2>°7 

There may also be qualities that speak well for 
a man, and yet not avail to recommend him to the 
divine favor. This Pharisee was an outwardly 
respectable and moral person. He was not extor- 
tionate or unjust in his business, — not an adulte- 
rer, — not backward in paying his debts. He was 
what the world would call a reputable and worthy 
man, — a good citizen. 

He was also quite religious in his way. He 
practised certain austerities and disciplined his 
body in strict sanctimoniousness. He fasted 
twice in a week, which was even more than the 
law required of him. 

He was also a prompt and conscientious sup- 
porter of the Church. He gave tithes of all that 
he possessed, the full tenth of all the products of 
his fields, cattle, and investments. He also felt 
that he had much for which to thank God, and 
for which he did give thanks after his fashion. 
He was likewise interested in the morals of men 
around him, and very severe on all injustice, dis- 
soluteness, and irregularity. People who did not 
come up to his standard had to hear from him and 
feel his censorship. 

But with all this he was an unapproved wor- 
shipper. His chaste and regular life was not 
against him ; for no one can be a true worshipper 
who is not made up to live righteously, soberly, 
and godly in this present evil world. But with 
so much that was favorable in his case he was 
not accepted. It takes more than respectability 
and outward morality to make a child of God. 



308 DIFFERENCE IN WORSHIPPERS. 

What, then, was the trouble? Certainly not 
that he was outwardly virtuous and religious, but 
that he was one of those 4 ' who trusted in them- 
selves that they were righteous and despised 
others. ' ' 

He could not agree to accept place with com- 
mon worshippers. He was so pure and holy in 
his own esteem that he could not stand anywhere 
near the publican who entered the temple with 
him. He must stand apart by himself. He was 
a Pharisee; and both the spirit and name of the 
Pharisees said, u Stand aside, for I am holier than 
thou." It was not that he stood to pray, for the 
other man also stood; but it was his Pharisaic 
self-righteousness that would not let him stand 
with other people, lest his superior holiness should 
be contaminated. 

His prayer itself showed the same character- 
istic. He thanked God. That was a very proper 
and right thing to do. A religion which has no 
thanksgiving in it is of poor account. We are 
to "give thanks always for all things unto God." 
But thanksgiving may easily run into self-lauda- 
tion and vain boasting. And so it was in this 
case. There was no giving of God the glory, 
but the taking of it all to himself. Under the 
form of thanking God, he merely recited his own 
praises and paraded his own virtues. The biggest 
and most pervading thing in it was the large /, — 
/am so and so, — /do so and so, — /fill out the 
conditions of righteousness, — / am not a sinner 
like other men. And if there is one thing more 



SECOND SUNDAY AFTER TRINITY. 3O9 

offensive to God than another, it is such spiritual 
pride, egotism, and self-commendation. Had this 
man been as good and pious as he professed, he 
would have devoutly ascribed it all to the grace 
of God, and humbly acknowledged that he was 
nothing in himself ; for it is only by the abound- 
ing goodness and grace of God that any of us are 
any better than the base and wicked around us. 

And with such a lofty, proud, and self-com- 
placent spirit there goes also an uncharitable cen- 
soriousness and contempt of others. Hence this 
Pharisee's prayer was as full of ill-natured com- 
parisons and accusations of other men as it was of 
self-flattery and spiritual self-exaltation. Dwell- 
ing supremely on his own pieties, he could see 
nothing but baseness in any one else. Other 
people were only licentious profligates in the eyes 
of such exalted saintship. His brother worshipper 
he scorned to acknowledge as of the same flesh 
and blood with himself. Even in his prayer he 
made a personal thrust at the poor publican, and 
condemned him in most unfeeling harshness. 
And if any consider themselves too good to kneel 
at the same altar with other people, and cannot 
worship God without supercilious judging of 
their fellow- worshippers, they may set it down 
that they are in no condition to profit by their 
devotions. 

This publican may not have been as good and 
honest a man as he should have been. Men of 
his profession in general had a bad reputation for 
extortion and unjust exactions; and he may not 



3IO D1FFERENXE IN WORSHIPPERS. 

have been quite clean of these wrongdoings. But 
there is nothing to show that he was any worse 
than people in general. He reverenced God and 
religion. He came to the temple for holy wor- 
ship, the same as the Pharisee. He was just as 
devoutly anxious to possess the favor of God as 
any one else. And if it had been in his heart to 
do it he might readily have retorted upon the 
Pharisee after the same style and spirit. It is not 
a safe thing for people who live in glass houses to 
throw stones. Had the Publican been so minded, 
he might have said: "God I thank thee that I 
am not as some men are, conceited, proud, un- 
charitable, censorious, and malignant, or even as 
this Pharisee. I do not boast of my virtues. I 
do not cast malevolent flings at other people. If I 
am a sinner, I can have sympathy and mercy for 
other sinners who feel their guilt and are earn- 
estly seeking God's forgiveness." But such was 
not his mind nor temper. Whether the Pharisee 
was a holy man or not, he would not undertake 
to decide. He knew that he himself was anything 
but holy. If his life had not been one of daring 
wickedness, he nevertheless felt himself far short 
of deserving anything but God's just condemna- 
tion. Other men might be sinners; but that was 
not for him to say. They might be proud, de- 
ceitful, hypocritical, arrogant, and full of offensive 
self righteousness; but to God they must answer; 
he w T ould not be their judge. He had his own 
soul's safety to look after and not the faults of 
others. Not his virtues and Goodness, but his 



SECOND SUNDAY AFTER TRINITY. 31I 

sins were the things he had to do with. If others 
condemned him, his condemnation of himself 
was deeper. For aught he knew, others might 
be holy and deserving of heaven; but as to him- 
self he felt that he was not, and that without 
God's merciful consideration there was no hope 
for him. 

Here was a spirit the very opposite of that of 
the Pharisee, and showing itself in every particu- 
lar. The contrast is perfect. The Pharisee came 
up to the temple and walked boldly to the most 
conspicuous place, as if it were his by right. The 
Publican came with holy fear and trembling. He 
scarcely dared to adventure within the threshold. 
He * ' stood afar off, ' ' as not worthy to have place 
among God's worshippers. The Pharisee spread 
forth his hands in ostentatious self-consequence. 
The Publican did not ' ' lift up so much as his 
eyes to heaven." The Pharisee with lofty coun- 
tenance told the IvOrd of his goodness, his moral- 
ity, his piety, and his worthy deeds. Downcast 
and oppressed in soul, the Publican had nothing 
to tell about himself but his unworthiness and 
sins. The Pharisee stood looking up with un- 
ruffled self-satisfaction. The Publican was so 
mortified and full of self-reproach that u he smote 
upon his breast, ' ' as totally fallen out with him- 
self, and aching in spirit over his guiltiness before 
God. The Pharisee proclaimed himself a spotless 
saint. The Publican profoundly lamented that 
he was nothing but a sinner, the same as if he 
were the only sinner in the world. The Pharisee 



312 DIFFERENCE IN WORSHIPPERS. 

censured and condemned everybody but himself. 
The Publican blamed and condemned nobody but 
himself. The Pharisee's prayer was no prayer at 
all. It asked for nothing. The man was already 
so perfect that he felt no need. The Publican's 
prayer was prayer, pure and simple. It was all 
looking, depending, impleading with a God-w r ard 
earnestness which could offer nothing, rest on 
nothing, expect nothing, but what God in His 
merciful goodness might bestow. The Pharisee 
gave a long harangue about his own superiority. 
The Publican, in the depths of compunction and 
grief, could only say, " God be merciful to me a 
sinner!" The Pharisee rested upon his own 
righteousness for acceptance and justification. 
The Publican only pleaded guilt and the propitia- 
tion God's mercy hath provided. He looked for 
help and salvation only through the altar of sacri- 
fice ; for the full rendering of his prayer would be : 
' ' God, be propitiated to me, the sinner ! " It was 
God's merciful forgiveness that he so humbly en- 
treated ; but he had no thought of receiving it 
except through the blood of atonement. And 
thus, while the Pharisee trusted to his own virtues 
and worth, the Publican was thoroughly evangelic 
in his faith and hope, and laid hold on the only 
availing righteousness. 

The results in these two cases may be readily 
anticipated. 

Many would be glad to have the feeling of con- 
scious rectitude in which this Pharisee indulged, 
and would rejoice to be able to say that no extor- 



SECOND SUNDAY AFTER TRINITY. 313 

tion, injustice, or lewdness had ever touched their 
lives, — that they had been strict in their respect 
and attention to God's ordinances, — that they 
could lay claim to a purity and righteousness such 
as he boasted. But what could that help him 
when so self-sufficient that he had nothing more 
to ask. Had he been able to claim for himself 
far greater things than he named, his pride and 
uncharity were enough to cause his utter rejec- 
tion. For though a man should speak with the 
tongues of men and of angels, have the gift of 
prophecy, understand all mysteries and all knowl- 
edge, bestow all his goods to feed the poor, have 
faith to remove mountains, and even give his 
body to be burned in sacrifice, and have no real 
love and charity in his heart, it cannot weigh a 
particle to recommend him to the favor and bene- 
diction of God. Morality and good works alone 
are not religion. Justifying ourselves is certain 
to meet with God's condemnation. Those who 
make their own righteousness their dependence 
find no occasion for divine mercy, and hence can- 
not have it. Accordingly this man, with all his 
morality and devotion, went down to his house 
unjustified and unsaved. 

On the other hand, this despised and sin-bur- 
dened Publican was accepted and blessed. His 
life may have been in many respects irregular, 
and many might regard him as a morbid enthu- 
siast for being so anxious about his sins; but he 
was honest; he was humble; he was contrite; he 
threw himself upon the only plea that man has to 



3 H DIFFERENCE IN WORSHIPPERS. 

avail before God; he earnestly prayed that he 
might find mercy; and God heard his prayer and 
honored his devotion. He was accepted, and went 
down to his house justified. His humble peni- 
tence took hold on the divine compassion, and 
from the depths of his self-condemnation he 
was lifted to the status of an approved child 
of God. 

Such, then, is the teaching given us in this 
text; and easily enough can its application be 
discerned. If we would come acceptably before 
God in His holy ordinance, bringing with us a 
good and regular life is altogether desirable; but 
we dare not come with the proud, self-righteous, 
and censorious spirit of this Pharisee. At the 
best we are very sinful beings, and much greater 
sinners than we know; and we must never for a 
moment think otherwise. And yet, to congratu- 
late ourselves that w T e are not as this Pharisee, is 
after all to be like him, and to involve ourselves 
in his fatal mistake. In our own righteousness 
we cannot stand, and only the mercy of God in 
Christ Jesus can avail for us. The moment we 
begin to think that now we are fit and worthy, 
we render ourselves unfit and unworthy. We 
are poor sinners all; without any claim whatever 
upon God's favor; and in that character, and 
feeling that such is our character, must we come, 
if we would be accepted. 

But though we be sinners, corrupt in nature 
and derelict in practice and life, our sins are no 
barrier, if we come in the right spirit. It was 



SECOND SUNDAY AFTER TRINITY. 3 I 5 

not the righteous, but sinners Jesus came to call. 
The Publican, in all his sins, is as welcome as 
the holiest Pharisee, if he only will come in the 
right way, penitently confessing his sins, praying 
earnestly for God's merciful forgiveness through 
the blood of atonement, and made up to forsake 
the sins he confesses. To this man Jehovah says 
He will look, even to him who is of an humble 
and contrite spirit, and trembleth at His word. 
To be thinking that we are not as bad as other 
people, will not do. Neither will it answer to 
comfort ourselves that we are free from gross 
offences against the law, and have in the general 
observed the outward precepts of religion. It is 
good if our lives have been virtuous; but we can 
by no means justify ourselves, and nothing but a 
contrite and honest acknowledgment of our sin- 
fulness, and an humble throwing of ourselves on 
God's mercy in Christ Jesus, will bring us His 
benediction. 

And especially must we avoid censorious judg- 
ing of our fellow-worshippers, as if we were so 
much better than they, and of too much conse- 
quence to be reckoned as helpless sinners. Human 
nature is apt to be severe with others while very 
lenient to itself ; but the Saviour calls this hypoc- 
risy. If we are better than others, we damage 
our claim to it by exulting over them or seeking 
to keep them down. Our duty is rather to pity 
them, to pray for them, and to help them to the 
better. It is enjoined upon us not to judge, that 
we be not judged. And if we would be God's 



3l6 DIFFERENCE IN WORSHIPPERS. 

children indeed, it pertains to ns to be severe 
upon our own faults, and forbearing and forgiving 
toward those of others, remembering that con- 
descension and charity are better than sacrifice, 
and that he who exalteth himself shall be abased. 



Third Sunday after Trinity. 




And the Pharisees and scribes murmured, saying, This man re- 
ceiveth sinners, and eateth with them. — Luke 15 : 2. 

T was not a false accusation which these 
people brought against Jesus. It was 
true that many unsavory characters did 
flock around Him ; that He did receive 
them kindly, and did accept invitations to their 
homes and hospitalities. 

He was in all respects a very marvellous man, 
and an attractive preacher. There was some- 
thing in His manner, in His sympathies, in His 
teachings, in His whole spirit that greatly im- 
pressed and captivated the masses. Even those 
whom society discarded, — the sinful, the con- 
demned, and the outcast, — were drawn to Him. 
They saw in Him a new style of goodness, which 
commended itself to their judgment, touched their 
hearts, disarmed their resentment, and cheered 
their souls. They saw in Him what commanded 
their interest, their respect, their confidence. 
Though pure and holy, He seemed closer to them 
than they had supposed a holy being could come. 
Hence their drawing to Him. 



318 the sinner's friend. 

And He welcomed their approaches. He took 
them up into His own deep sympathies. They 
felt that He felt for them ; and many, whose 
seared consciences answered to no other touch, 
realized in Him the presence of a new power and 
yielded to it. 

The self-righteous Pharisees were not attracted. 
They thought themselves too good to need His 
help, and were in no state of mind to value His 
favors. On the contrary, they despised His pre- 
tensions and teachings, and were offended and 
scandalized that He should bestow consideration 
upon sinners and outlaws, and showed so little 
regard for the excellent manners, legal purity, 
high repute, and decorous conversation of these 
self-exalted religionists. 

But Christ's reception of sinners was not of a 
sort to make light of their sins. It was not true 
that He preferred the evil to the good. He re- 
ceived sinners, indeed, and ate with them, but 
only that He might teach them better ways, re- 
cover them from condemnation, and cleanse them 
from their sins. He was kind and merciful to 
them, because they felt their need of His sympa- 
thy and help to lift them to a better life. He 
called sin, sin, and guilt, guilt; but He was moved 
and filled with pitying mercy for the marred and 
miserable who were longing for deliverance. 

And why should it not have been so ? Surely 
such tenderness well befitted Him who came to 
be their Saviour. Nor did He fail to show the 
propriety of His conduct in this. He did receive 



THIRD SUNDAY AFTER TRINITY. 319 

sinners, and eat with them. He did manifest 
pity and commiseration for the despised and 
wretched. He did hold himself open to be visited 
by the wicked, the base, and the unclean. Nor 
did He ever weary in His efforts to serve, comfort, 
and bless all who came unto Him. But there 
was ample justification for it. A few simple and 
homely parables were enough to put His accusers 
to shame. His conduct, after all, was in strict 
accord with the principles that govern in the 
common affairs of life. 

When but one out of the hundred of a shep- 
herd's flock has strayed away, doth he not leave 
the ninety and nine to seek and recover it ? When 
a woman misses one of her ten pieces of money, 
does she not search diligently for it, and show 
gladness in regaining it? What true-hearted 
father would not welcome his prodigal son when 
he returns in humble penitence, though ragged, 
reeking, and repulsive from his guilt ? And why 
should not the merciful Saviour, sent to save the 
wandering, lost, and erring, cheerfully receive 
wandering souls when they come with broken 
hearts, seeking pardon and restoration ! 

It is a bereavement and calamity to lose what 
we value and love. It is a sore loss and sorrow 
when a son turns out a rioting spendthrift and 
vagabond. And so God, and heaven, and the 
holy universe, are bereft and damaged by men's 
sinfulness. So to speak, there is a privation and 
loss to Heaven inflicted by human apostacy ; and 
there is every reason to wish the mutilation 



320 THE SINNERS FRIEND. 

healed. God loves and values His great flock, 
and is not willing that even one should be lost. 
Every member of it is a treasure. The human soul 
is a precious thing. It is a coin from the mint of 
heaven. It is stamped with Jehovah's image. 
It is a thing capacitated for a transcendent destiny. 
There is vast worth in it for good and profit, the 
loss of which is great and painful. And as a lov- 
ing father is wounded and distressed to see his 
son going to the bad ; so the great heart of God is 
moved and affected by the ruin of impenitent sin- 
ners. He loves them ; He pities them ; He has 
tender compassion for them ; and is not willing to 
lose them ; but would that all should come to 
repentance and live. It is no compensation for 
their loss that He has so many others left. Other 
souls and sons cannot satisfy for those that are 
gone. He might fill their places with new crea- 
tions, but that could not cover the wound nor 
modify the calamity. Substituting archangels in 
their stead would not satisfy the personal interest 
and affection which infinite Goodness feels for 
each that He has created and so nobly endowed. 
It is the crippled and ailing child that lies the 
nearest to the parental heart ; and where the 
tragic consequences of sin are most felt and la- 
mented, there the divine compassion is deepest 
and most active. 

Hence the readiness of Jesus to receive and 
favor sinners. It was not as the defender and 
patron of their wickedness. It was not to encour- 
age and strengthen them in their evil ways. It 



THIRD SUNDAY AFTER TRINITY. 32 1 

was that he might help them out of their miseries, 
rescue and new-create their alien hearts to hope 
and heaven. He had words of comfort for the 
lowly and the guilty ; He gave himself to com- 
panionship with those whom society discarded ; 
He even dealt tenderly toward the very thralls 
and worn-out servants of the devil ; — just that He 
might raise up the fallen, recover the lost, and 
bring salvation to the perishing. And such a 
compassionate Saviour Jesus is. 

And what a joyous achievement is success in 
such a work ! Who can begin to tell what vast 
and eternal good is embraced in the saving of a 
perishing soul ! Lost, and found, — dead, and 
made alive again, — snatched from the mouth of 
hell and lifted to the height of heaven, — what 
blessedness of meaning is summed up in this ! 
And if it is so glad a thing to the shepherd to get 
back one straying sheep, and to the father to 
have his errant son come home ; what must it be 
to God and heaven, and all the holy universe, to 
have such master-pieces of divine creation rescued 
from the destroyer's grasp, and set up to live and 
shine as immortal stars in the kingdom of glory ! 
Aye, says the Saviour, "there is joy in heaven, — 
joy in the presence of the angels of God, — over 
one sinner that repenteth ;" — " more joy over one 
sinner that repenteth, than over ninety and nine 
just persons that need no repentance." The 
sighs and tears of a repentant Magdalene may 
awaken no interest on earth, or excite only dis- 
gust in the proud scribes and Pharisees ; but wait- 
21 



322 THE SINNERS FRIEND. 

ing angels are rejoiced, and the bells of heaven are 
set a ringing, and the sons of God shont for joy 
over the new birth of a fellow-heir to a glorious 
immortality. Nor is there ever a conversion of a 
sinner on earth but it awakens songs in heaven. 

How indeed shall we gauge the satisfaction of 
Jesus as He beholds the fruits of the travail of His 
soul ! This is an ocean too wide for our gaze to 
reach across it, and too deep for our fathom line 
to sound. We cannot know the bitterness of the 
cup He drank, nor feel the agony that made His 
pores sweat blood, nor estimate the burden of the 
cross under which He fainted and on which He 
died. No, the encyclopedia of Calvary, and the 
melting lore of dying love, are too profound for 
our powers to compass. And so it is beyond our 
reach to measure the heavenly joy over the tro- 
phies of that wondrous tragedy. 

And when for such glad results the Saviour 
dealt so graciously toward the guilty and despised, 
how utterly discordant and shameful the attempt 
to stigmatize and condemn Him for it ! What 
these people charged and meant for His dishonor 
was really a most precious encomium. What 
more cheerful and hopeful to sin-burdened and 
anxious souls could be said of Him than that 
"this man receiveth sinners!" And what, alas, 
would be our fate if this saying were not true ?' ' 

A blessed Gospel, therefore, is that which has 
been thus given us to preach. A compassionate 
Saviour has come to seek and to save the lost. In 



THIRD SUNDAY AFTER TRINITY. 323 

Him there is hope even for the worst. He is here 
to receive, to pardon, and to bless, if sinful souls 
will but draw near in humble penitence. His 
word still is, "Come unto me, all ye that labor 
and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest." 
Nor is there any other Name under heaven, given 
among men, whereby to be saved. 

What think ye then of Christ? In what esteem 
do you hold Him ? Is it a thing of hopeful joy 
to you that the guilty and outcast can find favor 
with Him? Have you felt drawn to Him in 
loving interest to hear His gracious words and 
profit by His mercies ? Sinners as we all are, has 
it been yours to make the angels glad by repent- 
ance? And if disturbed and troubled by past 
negligences "and sins, be comforted by what this 
day's Gospel preaches, and rejoice in the blessed 
truth that u fhis man receiveth sinners." 



gifting attir jFmiiing, 

Fourth Sunday after Trinity. 




They . . . found Him on the other side of the sea. — Jno. 6 : 25. 

"T is a great and blessed thing to find 
Christ. To find Him, is to find the 
centre of all Christian faith and hope. 
To find Him, is to find the well-spring 
of eternal youth. There be many treasures in 
the world, but none to compare with Jesus, who 
proposes to be wisdom, righteousness, sanctifica- 
tion, and redemption to all those who devoutly 
come to Him. And He is also to be found of all 
those who diligently seek Him. In some sense 
also the world is full of those who seek Him; for 
He has ever been c ' The Desire of nations. ' ' 

But the seekers of Christ are of quite different 
sorts. Henry Martyn, the missionary, found that 
the thronging crowds of poor Hindoos that gath- 
ered around him every week came more for the 
bread he was in the habit of distributing among 
them, than for the Gospel Bread of Life. And 
so it is with many still. They profess religion, 
join the Church, or take part with Church people, 
more for the credit, social standing, or business 
advantages it may be to them, than for any honest 

324 



FOURTH SUNDAY AFTER TRINITY. 325 

spiritual profit. What they look at is the worldly 
gain it may be to them. They have a relish for 
the loaves and fishes, and this it is that controls 
their movements. They are eager enough to 
have Christ as their Prophet and King, if He 
will prosper their earthly lives, fill their barns 
and purses, and crown them with temporal good 
and honor. But when the soul is to be subjugated 
to righteousness and truth, self-denial and the 
cross endured, the ardor fails, and the showy zeal 
expires. When there is to be a feeding of the 
flesh and its lusts and appetites, or food or money 
to be given away, there is stir and eagerness 
enough; but when only spiritual good is to be 
obtained, and only the Bread of Life is offered, 
the multitudes turn away, and the altar of God 
is neglected and forsaken. It is well indeed to 
be zealous and determined in seeking Christ. It 
is the only way to eternal salvation. But it must 
be a seeking of Him as the Saviour of souls. 

But to find Christ so as to be to us a personal 
saving it is often necessary to cross the sea. 
These people found Him on the other side of the 
sea. A man has sometimes to leave his old way 
of life and enter a new land to find his fortune. 
And the same sort of necessity often holds in 
these spiritual things. There are two sides to 
life ; — a right side and a wrong side ; and it is on 
the wrong side, — the side of sin and condemna- 
tion, — that all are born and many continue to 
live. For such there is no hope but to emigrate, 
to quit the old life and associations, and to cross 



326 SEEKING AND FINDING. 

over to the other side, where alone Christ and 
salvation are to be found. 

Between many and the Saviour there is a dark 
wide sea of unrepented and unforgiven sin, which 
must be crossed to reach Him. He is indeed 
willing and ready to receive and save even the 
worst ; but they must consent to part from their 
old evil ways, leave the shores of desolation, and 
come to Him on the other side. 

It is easy to become badly severed from the 
shore of safety. If you have stood upon some 
jutting rocks or timbers close to the water's edge 
at the incoming tide of the sea, you perhaps re- 
member how imperceptible its approach was. 
You saw a little shivering spread of thin water 
running up upon the smooth sand, and some tiny 
wavelets gliding in only to retire as they came, 
with nothing to indicate the majesty of the incom- 
ing waters, until presently you found yourself cut 
off from the land by a wide stretch of sea rolling 
between you and safety. And so it is with sin. 
The first may be a trifle. We excuse it and say, 
u Is it not a little one?" But gradually the tide 
of evil glides in, each little wave followed by an- 
other, and every successor coming faster and 
deeper until, before the person is aware of it, he 
is surrounded by an ever-widening .sea that must 
be crossed in order to be saved. 

What is it, then, that separates so many from 
Christ, and the peace which is to be found in 
Him? 

With some it is a subtle unbelief and false 



FOURTH SUNDAY AFTER TRINITY. 327 

philosophy perverting their thinking and sway- 
ing them into doubt, skepticism, and a hardened 
unwillingness to be convinced. 

With others it is a cold indifference that puts 
aside all concern about sacred things and is satis- 
fied so to remain. 

With another class it is a deep and all-absorb- 
ing selfishness, toiling night and day to win and 
secure all it can, not caring whom it wrongs, and 
scrupulous only in refusing to part with anything. 

There is also a sea of worldliness and carnal 
gayety by which many are parted from the Sa- 
viour. Their business, their pleasures, their 
ease, their friends, their vanities fill up their 
thoughts, occupy their time, and tax their ener- 
gies so that no room is left for God and attention 
to the wants of the soul. The deep waters of 
worldly likes roll between them and salvation. 

And there are many well-meaning people who 
are so taken up with their domestic duties, and 
have so much upon them, that they are unwill- 
ingly kept away from Christ. They would be 
Christians, and often really long to find the Sa- 
viour and His peace ; but they are so preoccupied 
and tied down by adverse and oppressive cares 
that they excuse and justify themselves in not 
making the attempt. 

But whatever may interpose to keep away from 
Him in whom alone is pardon and peace, our 
bounden duty is to set ourselves to overcome it. 
Necessity is upon us. Without Jesus we are lost. 
Nor can we ever find Him by lingering on the 



328 SEEKING AND FINDING. 

barren shores of sin. There needs to be a vigor- 
ous combating of carnal indifference, an abandon- 
ment of evil ways, and the bold adventure of the 
soul, by God's grace, to conquer every obstacle, 
and thus pass over to the side where Jesus is. 
There must be no holding back for weather, — no 
timid shrinking because of hindrances and diffi- 
culties. He that observeth the wind will not 
sow ; and he that regardeth the clouds will not 
reap. And however adverse and dark the sea, it 
must be crossed, if ever people would be with 
Jesus. 

But that Galilean sea symbolizes this present 
life. Christ has passed over it and is now on the 
other side. There is a beyond — another side. 
And these two sides are very different. Here 
there is toil, and weariness, and trouble, and 
storms, and darkness. Here we have trials, losses, 
sicknesses, bereavements, sorrows, tears. It is not 
so on the other side. There they hunger no 
more, neither thirst any more. There there is no 
more death, neither sorrow, nor crying; neither 
shall there be any more pain ; for the former 
things have passed away. There Jesus is in the 
fullness of His glory and beauty to feast the souls 
of His people, and to be to them an eternal con- 
solation. 

Many in this world have a hard and trying life. 
They have poverty, and want, and disease, and 
temptation, and sin to battle with, and must 
struggle hard to keep the narrow way. People 
are often so distressed as to lament that ever they 



FOURTH SUNDAY AFTER TRINITY. 329 

were born. But there is another and better side. 
This world is not the whole of life, and its griefs 
and hardships cannot last forever. And where 
there is honest and faithful Christian endeavor 
deliverance is not far away. There is rest on the 
other side. 

Some of us may have had to suffer bitter disap- 
pointments and cruel wrongs. Though we have 
had our comforts and blessings, the path through 
which we have come has been marked with thorns 
and lined with graves. But if true love and zeal 
for Jesus has place in our hearts, all these adversi- 
ties will disappear, and all losses be made up to 
us in the glory to be revealed on the other side. 

Some of us may be going down the decline of 
life. Daily dimmer may grow our vision. Most 
of the friends and associates of our youth have 
gone. And nothing may now remain to us here 
but a few years of increasing infirmities never to 
be removed. But this is our comfort, that when 
the trying voyage of life is over, immortal youth 
and unfading blessedness await us on the other 
side. 

To all His people the word of Jesus is, ' ' Let 
not your heart be troubled : ye believe in God, 
believe also in Me. In my Father's house are 
many mansions : if it were not so, I would have 
told you. I go to prepare a place for you. And 
if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come 
again, and receive you unto myself; that where I 
am, there ye may be also." Yes, we shall share 
His blessedness on the other side. 



Fifth Sunday after Trinity. 




He that entereth in by the way of the North gate to worship shall 
go out by the way of the South gate ; and he that entereth by the 
way of the South gate shall go forth by the way of the North gate : 
he shall not return by the way of the gate whereby he came in, but 
shall go forth over against it. And the Prince in the midst of them, 
when they go in, shall go in; and when they go forth, shall go forth. 
■ — Ezek. 46 : 9, 10. 

pATES ajar is a popular poetic image 
which these words may call to mind. 
Gates are spoken of, — gates of good and 
blessing. They are Temple gates, — the 
gates of entrance into holy worship and fellowship 
with God. 

The first thought suggested in connection with 
entrance into these gates is, that Religion is for 
all in common, — for high and low alike. They 
are for the prince and for the people without dis- 
tinction of rank. 

There are many orders and estates in life. 
Whatever may be men's theories of natural and 
social equality, the fact remains that class differ- 
ences cannot be obliterated. There always are, 
and always will be, older and younger, teachers 
and pupils, governors and governed, learned and 

330 



FIFTH SUNDAY. AFTER TRINITY. 33 I 

ignorant, rich and poor, fools and wise. No laws, 
or legislation, or attempts to level things, can 
ever make this different. But while these dis- 
tinctions exist, and often are very deep; before 
God, all are on the same level and foundation; 
for God is no respecter of persons. The same 
Temple gates and ordinances are for all alike. 
The prince must go with the people, and the 
people with the prince. There* is no exemption 
for the high and rich because they are high and 
rich, nor for the humble and poor because they are 
humble and poor. Worship, devotion, and the 
service of God are precisely the same for all. In 
the true divine order, "the rich and the poor 
meet together," as the one L,ord is the Maker of 
them all. 

But God's worshippers do not all enter the 
temple from the same quarter. There is a north 
gate, and a south gate; — a side of sunshine, and a 
side of shade, — and people come in from these 
opposite sides. Some have good fortune in their 
affairs, and are peculiarly favored in their estate; 
and in their case the mercies of God are most 
potential in drawing them. Many have had good 
and pious homes in which they grew into pious 
thinking and pious ways, hardly knowing any- 
thing else. They come not with bitter sorrows 
of repentance, for their consciences have never 
been corroded by gross immoralities, and they 
have never lived in unbelief. Their lives have 
been genial, sunny, and good, the rewards of 
careful parental and pastoral care and teaching; 



332 THE TEMPLE GATES. 

and it has ever been their life and joy to love and 
serve the good Father in heaven. Gently drawn 
along as by golden cords, they have come into 
religion's ways amid pleasantness and peace. 
These enter the temple from the side of sunshine 
and brightness. 

But there is an opposite side, — the side of gloom, 
darkness, and storms. Great sorrows and adversi- 
ties, great crimes and terrors of conscience, great 
disturbances and fears, great perils and judg- 
ments, are often the means of bringing careless 
and wicked people to a change of their ways. 
Except for some dark providence, some sore be- 
reavement, some heavy affliction or severe re- 
verses, many would never have been moved to 
piety and faith. Except for lives of profanity and 
wickedness, the alarms awakened by Jehovah's 
threatenings, the sharp disasters that came near 
consuming them, many would never have come 
to think of God nor to seek His mercy. The 
hand of almighty power often strikes in upon the 
peace of guilty souls, breaks up their nests, shows 
them the yawning gulf, and through fiery trials 
brings them to themselves and their duty. These 
come into the temple by way of the north gate, — 
from the side of shadow, gloom, and darkness. 

But from whatever side people enter, the great 
matter is to enter. The gates are made for this 
purpose. To neglect the temple and worship of 
God, is to neglect the soul and heaven. To be 
without God and without hope in the world is 
an abnormity, — a negation of proper manhood, — 



FIFTH SUNDAY AFTER TRINITY. 333 

a making light of the superlative work of divine 
goodness toward our race. There is no merciful 
God, no hope, no salvation apart from Him who 
can be approached only through His own ordi- 
nances and temple. The gates of the Sanctuary 
are the gates of hope and salvation, and there is 
neither for those who refuse to enter them. 

And having entered there must be sfraightfor- 
ward pi'ogress. Entering at the north gate there 
is to be a going through to the south gate ; and 
the same to the north gate from entrance at the 
south. Many enter the temple-place and come 
out just where they went in. They make no 
progress. They do not go through. They begin 
and then retreat. They go part of the way, but 
get no further. We see them enter at one gate, 
but they never get to the other. There is no 
thoroughness in their religion, — no following on 
to serve the Lord. They perform some duties, 
but leave the rest. They make the start, but fail 
to continue. But God says, ' ' If any man draw 
back, my soul hath no pleasure in him." Hav- 
ing made the beginning, we must "go on unto 
perfection." Paul supplied the right example, 
when, forgetting the things that are behind, and 
reaching forth to those things that are before, 
he ever pressed for the mark of the prize of the 
high calling of God in Christ Jesus. 

Another thought is, that the true worship of 
God does not let us out as we came in. It is meant 
to do something for us, — to make us better, 
stronger, and firmer in our faith and duty. When 



334 THE TEMPLE GATES. 

Moses was in the mount with God, his face took 
on a brightness, so that the children of Israel 
could scarcely endure to look upon it. When 
men observed certain disciples, they took knowl- 
edge of them that they had been with Jesus. 
Association and fellowship with the divine im- 
printed its marks. And so our entry into the 
temple is intended to enlighten, brighten, and 
burnish our souls, — to clear away the darkness and 
earthiness of our hearts, — to illuminate and trans- 
figure our natures, — to bring the sorrowing to joy, 
the troubled to peace, and to prepare the happy 
for the day of trial. We may not always be able 
to see the effect, or be fully conscious of it, but 
the good is there, and continues to deepen as we 
continue in the sacred communion. Moses did 
not know his face was shining, and we may not 
be able to carry away with us the scented waters ; 
but where they have touched us the pleasant 
aroma remains upon the soul. Going in with a 
true heart and a serious mind, we cannot come out 
as we went in. 

A pious life has many ins and outs. There is 
an in to the closet. We need our private devo- 
tions, — our retirements from the world ; and to 
these we must attend. This is one ingoing. 
There is another ingoing to the public worship. 
If we would be right Christians, we dare not for- 
sake the assembling of ourselves together as the 
manner of some is. People who despise church- 
going, who do not care whether they hear the 
preaching of the Word or not, and think they can 



FIFTH SUNDAY AFTER TRINITY. 335 

do as well by lying at home or wandering about 
the streets and fields, or by using God's holy day 
for social visitations, never can have much of the 
spirit of religion in them. True Christian life 
calls for a going in to the sanctuary. 

There is also a going in to the Table of the 
Lord, to the study of the Scriptures, to frequent 
self-examinations, and to consideration of what 
we can do for God and His cause. 

All these are ingoings in Christian life. But 
there are also outgoings. We cannot always be 
in the closet, in the place of worship, or in the 
more formal duties of religion. Neither is it in- 
tended that we should. God has arranged for 
<?^/goings as well as ingoings. We go in to eat, 
and rest, and commune, and refresh ourselves ; 
and then we go out to employ and put forth the 
strength which we thus acquire. A right man 
will always have some employment, and so will 
have a going out to business, trade, and daily oc- 
cupation. Hiding away from the world is not 
Christianity. God means us to take our part in 
the industries, toils, burdens, and attritions of 
life. It is this that helps to develop character, 
strengthen virtue, and promote usefulness. Man 
is always at his best where he is obliged to work 
and toil for bread and shelter ; and no man can be 
what he ought to be, if he never goes out in this 
line of things. 

Then there is also a going forth to manifold 
temptations. God always tries those whom He 
honors. He puts them to the test, that they may 



33^ THE TEMPLE GATES. 

show what is really in them, and develop their 
powers of endurance. It may be by adversity, or 
it may be by prosperity, — it may be by provoca- 
tions and rough experiences, or it may be by flat- 
teries and soft solicitations, — it may be by taxes 
on temper, on patience, on endurance, or it may 
be by exemptions, ease, and a plentiful and sunny 
life. But, in one way or another we must be 
tried. As Jesus came out of the waters of Bap- 
tism to be tempted of the devil, so we must en- 
counter all sorts of trials and temptations, that we 
may prove ourselves the true children of God by 
our victories over them. 

And then there are further outgoings in Chris- 
tian work. Religion is not all hearing of ser- 
mons, saying of prayers, and singing of Psalms. 
There are children to be instructed and trained in 
religious knowledge and habits. There are sick, 
and poor, and helpless to be looked after and 
cared for. There are churches to be built and 
sustained, ministers to be educated, erring ones 
to be recovered, people destitute of the means of 
grace and salvation to be supplied with the word 
and ordinances, and a thousand interests of the 
kingdom to be looked after and provided for, re- 
quiring labor and self-denial, to which good peo- 
ple must needs go forth. 

It is therefore a true picture of Christian life 
which these ins and outs suggest. 

But in these ingoings and outgoings God's 
people have a comforting assurance. ' ' The Prince 
is in the midst of them." 



FIFTH SUNDAY AFTER TRINITY. 337 

Whoever this Prince may be when the prophecy 
reaches its ultimate fulfilment, we know who is 
now the Prince of Zion. The King and Head 
of the Church is the risen and enthroned Jesus. 
He is the Lord and Prince of all God's people. 
And He is ever with them, — ever "in the midst 
of them." Going in or out, He is with them. 

His word is, that "Where two or three are 
gathered together in His Name, there He is, in 
the midst of them." And all faithful souls know 
the truth of this. 

His Sanctuary is the appointed and special 
meeting-place between Him and them. Here 
He breathes upon them, and bestows His Spirit, 
and shows His wounded hands, and feet, and 
side, and gives His loving benediction. Here 
He mingles His prayers with ours, and unites 
His Spirit with our spirits, to lift us into heavenly 
experiences and blessing. 

And when His people go forth He goes forth 
with them. Be it in special works for Him and 
His Church, or in our daily business, He is with 
us. A true Christian is a Christian in his ordi- 
nary work and plans of life, as well as in his 
worship and confession; and the Prince is with 
him in the one as in the other. Christ and His 
people are one, and can no more be separated in 
the common affairs of life than in their devotions. 
He dwells in them and walks in them. 

He also goes with them into their trials and 
temptations, to direct, comfort, and sustain. There 
is no one upon whom we can so much count at 
22 



338 THE TEMPLE GATES. 

such times as upon Him. His sympathies are 
with the sorrowing; His help is with the weak 
and endangered; His consolations are with the 
faint and the sad. 

And in our goings forth in active Christian 
duty, He hath specially said, ' ' Lo, I am with 
you alway, even unto the end of the world." 
When His ministers stand up to preach His Gos- 
pel, He stands up with them, and speaks by 
them, and is their mouth and wisdom, as He is 
their salvation. When His people do for His 
Name and honor, and for the good of the Church 
and their fellow-men, it is more His doing than 
theirs. It is His Spirit acting in their acts. 

And especially in our going forth out of this 
world, will our Prince go with us. In the passage 
through the dark valley, the gloom is often so 
deep, the mystery so great, the experience so un- 
tried, the natural dread so oppressive, that then, 
above all, we would like to have the assuring 
presence of some one able to sustain and comfort 
us. But there our Prince is especially near. He 
is never closer nor more precious to a believing 
soul than when it trembles on the confines of an 
unexplored eternity. Even amid the dissolution 
of the earthly house of this tabernacle, His hands 
are open to receive the outgoing spirit; and, in 
all the frowning gloom and darkness, His rod 
and His staff are pledged for our defence and 
consolation. 

And yet one other thought from this text: We 
have not long to worship here. There is a gate 



FIFTH SUNDAY AFTER TRINITY. 339 

of entrance and a gate of exit, and the distance 
between them is short. It is the place for the 
adjustment of our affairs with God, — the place 
to get His favor and benediction, — the place of 
ready-making for a happy departure; — but it is 
no place for a long stay. The gate at which we 
come in already points on to the gate at which 
we are to go out. We cannot remain even if we 
would. The procession is ever moving, and we 
necessarily move with it. "For here we have no 
continuing city. ' ' 

Dear friends, have you entered these sacred 
gates and put yourselves in condition for a hope- 
ful and happy exit from this world? Some of 
you have had your lot on the side of storms and 
darkness. You know what it is to be afflicted, 
bereaved, weighed down with trials and sorrows. 
Have they served to bring you in by that North 
gate ? Some of you may have had but little else 
than sunshine and prosperity, to whom God has 
been very good, strewing your path with flowers. 
Has that served to awaken your devout gratitude 
and to bring you in through the South gate? 
Think what mighty interests hang suspended 
upon these questions. Let them not be put aside as 
impertinent. And if you have not yet sought to 
enter the blessed sanctuary, now is the time for 
you to act ; that through these earthly gates you 
may enter the gates of pearl and find your home 
in the heavenly Jerusalem. 



Sixth Sunday after Trinity. 




There is a river, the streams whereof shall make glad the city of 
God. — Ps. 46 : 4. 

HBN the Roman Empire fell before the 
fierce invasions of the northern Barba- 
rians the foundations of society seemed 
to be uprooted. Consternation and de- 
spair seized the civilized world. The stress of the 
situation moved Augustine, the great Bishop of 
Hippo, to write the greatest of his works, in 
which he sketched and defended a better common- 
wealth, — one which time could not waste nor 
enemies destroy. He named it The City of God, 
meaning that imperishable kingdom and state of 
which Jehovah is the Head and all true believers 
are the citizens. He traced its history, conflicts, 
trials, and triumphs, from the earliest ages, 
through successive dispensations, from Noah to 
Abraham, the prophets of Israel, the Advent of 
the Christ, the conquests of the Apostles on to the 
final consummation in eternal glory. 

Such a City, or Commonwealth, there is, and 
always has been, and ever will be. The Psalmist 
exulted in the contemplation of it, and sung again 

340 



SIXTH SUNDAY AFTER TRINITY. 34 1 

and again of "the City of God," — "the City of 
the Lord of hosts," — "the City of our God." 
And so the text speaks of ' ' the City of God, the 
holy place of the tabernacles of the Most High." 

This mystic City, or Commonwealth, has its 
centre in heaven. It is otherwise called "the 
kingdom of heaven." Many of its citizens are in 
heaven ; but many are found scattered here and 
there all over the earth. They are not all of one 
order, one nation, or one continent, tribe, or 
tongue. Nor are they all included in one partic- 
ular association, organization, or fold. Wherever 
there are men and women who acknowledge and 
adore the true and only God, and accept and fol- 
low Jesus Christ, His only Son, as their Lord and 
Saviour, there it exists in sacred sovereignty and 
gracious benediction. And whatever gravitates 
heavenward, and makes for man's eternal blessed- 
ness, belongs to this City of God, the new Jerusa- 
lem, of which God and the Lamb are the glory 
and the light. 

And in connection with this City the Psalmist 
tells us of a River, by which it is refreshed and 
gladdened. It is a mystic River, as the City is a 
mystic City. 

There is another river, very ancient and very 
great. It started with the tears of our first parents 
as they went weeping from Eden ; and it has been 
flowing in ever-expanding volumes through all 
the ages since. Its waters were early dyed with 
the blood of Able. In Noah's time it had swollen 
to turbid violence which shook the earth and en- 



34 2 THE BLESSED RIVER. 

gulfed the world of mankind in a flood of uni- 
versal judgment. And since that time its streams 
of desolation have been crashing through the cen- 
turies destroying myriads and overwhelming the 
greatest empires in its course. It is the river 
of sin, and death, and judgment, flowing with 
tears, and sweat, and blood, turbulent with vio- 
lence, foaming with wicked passions, and smok- 
ing with the burning wrath of Heaven. Lan- 
guage cannot tell the mischief it has wrought, the 
miseries it has created, the hells of woe it has 
entailed upon our race. 

But? the River of which the text speaks has a 
different record. It started in the foreknowledge 
and compassion of eternal Omnipotence before 
the earth was. It broke forth into the world 
when God said, The Seed of the woman shall 
bruise the serpent's head. It gilded Adam's tears 
with hope. It over-arched Noah's altar with the 
bow of promise when he alighted from the Ark. 
It followed Israel in their long prilgrimage through 
the wilderness. It made up " Siloah's brook that 
flowed fast by the oracle of God." The prophets 
stood on its banks and cried, ' ' Ho, every one that 
thirsteth come ye to the waters." Jesus told of it 
when He lifted up His voice and said : ■ " If any 
man thirst, let him come unto me and drink. ' ' 

Nor has this River ever ceased to flow in joy- 
ous and gladdening beauty, even in the darkest 
and the most calamitous times. Sometimes it 
trickled feebly among the rocks and rubbish with 
which depravity and falsehood obstructed its cur- 



SIXTH SUNDAY AFTER TRINITY. 343 

rent. Sometimes it seemed quite lost to human 
view. But it has never failed, and never can fail. 
Reinforcements of blessed rains and inspirations 
from heaven again and again have come to swell 
its volume and augment its flow. The ancient 
patriarchs and the seers of Zion saw and felt it in 
their days, and drank of it, and called upon their 
generations to "taste and see that the Lord is 
good." Since the world began it has been the 
joyous theme of Psalms, and rituals, and many 
holy visions. And to this day it still is singing 
its way among the peoples of the earth, bearing 
the treasures of heavenly grace and hope upon its 
bosom, giving life to all it touches, and destined 
to wash the curse clean out of our smitten and 
ailing world. 

It is a River ; hence an open and public stream, 
free and accessible to all ; — a River, deep, abun- 
dant, vast, exhaustless, and at all times accessi- 
ble. No winters can freeze it up. No hands can 
dip it dry. No obstructions can stop its onward 
course. No powers can fence it in. It is even 
the glorious Lord himself come down to be to us 
1 ' a place of broad rivers. ' ' 

And what rivers are to earthly cities this River 
is to the City of God. 

All God's people have their life-drink from it. 
They could not be what they are without it. 
There are thirsts in man which cannot be satis- 
fied nor assuaged except by the life-waters of this 
sacred River. Of whatever earthly streams or 
fountains men may drink, they thirst again and 



344 THE BLESSED RIVER. 

languish if the deeper wants of the soul remain 
unsatisfied. But those who drink of this River 
of God have in them springs of joy and hope well- 
ing up into everlasting life. 

It is also a purifying River. Humanity, as we 
find it, needs cleansing. There is a leprous 
plague in the world from which no one in the 
course of nature is, nor can be, free. But there 
has been a fountain opened for the washing away 
of sin and uncleanness, and its waters flow in this 
River. By these the citizens of the sacred Em- 
pire are washed, sanctified, justified in the name 
of the Lord Jesus, and by the Spirit of God. 

When Naaman washed in Jordan, as bidden by 
the prophet, his plague was stayed and his flesh 
came again as the flesh of a little child. And so 
there is perfect healing and purification in the 
waters of this River. From the heights of Jeru- 
salem, on the Church's great inauguration day, 
there went forth a voice into all the earth to in- 
fected and perishing souls, saying, "Repent and 
be baptized every one of you in the name of 
Jesus Christ for the remission of sins." And 
everywhere, as many as comply with this word 
are purified in soul, and made ' ' a chosen genera- 
tion, a royal priesthood, an holy nation, a pecu- 
liar people, ' ' called to walk with the king in fine 
linen pure and white. 

Beauty and joyous fertility also come of this 
River. What is more charming in nature than 
living streams, where the waters kiss the land, 
and the land flushes and blooms responsive to the 



SIXTH SUNDAY AFTER TRINITY. 345 

gentle touch, and the trees extend their arms to 
embrace the laughing current, and every rush and 
reed and springing plant stretches up to hang out 
some flag or tinted bell to the Lord of the waters 
and the sunshine ! Even so does this sacred 
River gladden and adorn the City of God. Its 
citizens are like trees planted by the rivers of 
water, bringing forth fruit in their season. ( ' They 
spread forth, as gardens by the river's side, as the 
trees of lignaloes which the Lord hath planted, as 
cedar- trees beside the waters. ' ' 

Rivers, moreover, are great arteries of com- 
merce. By means of them cities secure much 
wealth and prosperity. They furnish outlets and 
facilities for profitable intercourse with distant 
countries. And such is this River to the City of 
God. By this its citizens have connection and 
commerce with other worlds. They do business 
with lands very far off, and thus secure for them- 
selves pleasant and imperishable riches. What 
blessed imports from heaven come to them by 
means of this River ! What medicines for the 
soul, what joys for the heart, what riches for the 
spirit are thus obtained ! What treasures of wis- 
dom, what wealth of mercies, what supports of 
character and dignities, what sublimities of hope, 
what titles to inalienable and eternal possessions 
do the citizens of this heavenly commonwealth 
acquire by means of this blessed River! Even 
under all the denuding calamities of a suffering 
Job they are richer than Croesus, or all the 
worldlings of the earth. 



346 THE BLESSED RIVER. 

Nor is it difficult to find this River, or to avail 
ourselves of its blessedness. In God's Word and 
Sacraments, — in the doctrines and promises of 
His Gospel, — in the covenants of His grace, — in 
the ordinances of His house, — in the assemblies 
of His saints, — in the illuminations and inward 
promptings of His Holy Spirit, — its presence is 
manifest. These are the points of man's contact 
with it. In these may we drink of it, and take in 
all the riches of its cleansing, renewing, and sanc- 
tifying power. Coming to these, we come to 
the very well-springs of salvation and touch the 
1 ' pure River of water of life, proceeding out of the 
throne of God and of the Lamb. ' ' 

This, then, is the River, the streams whereof 
make glad the City of God. Blessed River ! 
Happy City ! Happy the soul that bows to drink 
of these waters ! Happy the Naaman who con- 
sents to wash in their cleansing waves ! 

And may I ask then, dear friends, whether you 
have learned to appreciate and profit by what God 
has so mercifully arranged for our immortal good ? 

Some of you, no doubt, have long been enrolled 
as citizens of this sacred Commonwealth. You 
were born within its territory. From early in- 
fancy you have shared its benedictions. You 
have been marked with its badge and sealed with 
its signet. You were rocked in the cradle of its 
immunities, and composed to your infant slum- 
bers by its songs. You have been reared under 
the sound of its bells, and led by loving hands 
into the halls of its oratories. You have been 



SIXTH SUNDAY. AFTER TRINITY. 347 

taught to worship at its altars, and to rejoice in 
the music of its hymns. You have subscribed to 
the statutes of its government, and sworn by the 
name of its God. Have you then been faithful to 
your vows and loyal to your King ? 

Others, perhaps, have long been hearing of this 
heavenly City, but never pledged allegiance to its 
authorities. The River of free grace that runs 
through our sanctuaries has been running by their 
doors and into their very homes, and lodged 
many a drop of its waters upon their hearts; but 
they have not been softened to penitence, nor 
moved to seek the salvation it carries. Some- 
times there may have come a spell of serious 
thinking, when they were almost persuaded, and 
perhaps made solemn promises; but other influ- 
ences interfered, and their names have not yet 
found place upon the roll- books of the sacred 
community. Many are willing to go far and 
spend much, to drink of earthly springs, to bathe 
in earthly waters, to breathe the atmosphere of 
rocky heights and scented hills, for bodily in- 
vigoration, health, and pleasure; but when it 
comes to dealing with the City of God and the 
life-waters which alone can give health and sal- 
vation to the soul, there is often no heart for it, 
and many turn away in cold indifference. 

I see people sick, and ailing, and sad, and full 
of soul-aches and discomforts. I see them trying 
varied expedients for relief and consolation. And 
I wonder, Have they tried the waters that make 
glad the City of God ? 



34-8 THE BLESSED RIVER. 

I see people who are growing old, feeble with 
years, bending toward the nearing grave. Most 
of the friends of their youth are gone. One after 
another of their cherished possessions has receded 
from them. The bubbles they once so eagerly 
pursued have vanished. They have run their 
race. Nothing more remains to them in this world 
but a coffin and a tomb. And I wonder, Have 
they accepted place in the Commonwealth of the 
redeemed ? Have they partaken of the reviving 
waters that strengthen for ascensions beyond the 
reach of feebleness and death? 

I see young men and maidens, full of the ardor, 
gayety, and hilarity of youth, eager in the pur- 
suit of earthly pleasures, gains, and honors, and 
at whose hearts the subtle archer is aiming his 
arrow, presently to lay them with the dead. 
And I wonder, Are their names in the book of 
life? 

I think what a lofty inspiration dwelt in the 
souls of those men of old who could walk forth 
amid the populations of the earth and proudly 
say, / am a Roman citizen ! But how paltry was 
that short-lived honor compared with the im- 
munity and glory of citizenship in the sacred 
Commonwealth of the saints, — in the eternal City 
of our God ! Rome and its empire have fallen 
and passed away; but this City stands, and must 
stand forever, with all its sons and daughters 
destined to a blessed immortality. Come what 
changes and convulsions may, amid the worst 
desolations of death and hell these shall survive, 



SIXTH SUNDAY AFTER TRINITY. 349 

and chant their Halleluias by the crystal sea, 
when this vain world shall be no more. 

O that all who hear me this day may be duly 
awake and alive to the sublimity of our privi- 
leges, and find the inspiration and the peace that 
come by this River, the streams whereof make 
glad the City of God ! 

Brief life is here our portion : 

Brief sorrow, short-lived care ; 
That Life that knows no ending, 

The tearless life is there. 



Seventh Sunday after Trinity. 




And when he came to himself, he said, How many hired servants 
of my father's have bread enough and to spare, and I perish with 
hunger. — Luke 15 : 17. 

" HESE words call up the old, old story, 
so familiar to all, — the story of the prodi- 
gal son. But while that story is old, it 
is ever new, ever displaying some new 
beauty, some fresh light. Many a careless and 
disobedient heart is still being touched by it, and 
tears in the eyes of many an awakened sinner 
still testify to its melting power. It is a story 
which also makes its appeal to us, as to all wan- 
derers from the Father's house who have been 
wasting His gifts and trying to satisfy immortal 
natures with this world's husks. 

This was a case in which a young man grew 
tired of his father's house, and impatient under 
its restraints. He longed to have his own way, 
and to be free to indulge his own likes and vani- 
ties. Virtuous obedience became irksome to him, 
and he took what he could, turned his back upon 
his parents, and went away into a far country, to 
live according to his fancy. How accurately this 



SEVENTH SUNDAY AFTER TRINITY. 35 I 

describes multitudes of highly favored people ! 
Born and reared in the Church, and blessed with 
all the tender care of fond and faithful parents, 
they have suffered their love of home and duty to 
die out; and though living beneath the shadows 
of God's house, are now morally in a far-off 
country, prostituting a kind Father's gifts, and 
wasting their faculties and powers in reckless 
follies and degrading guilt. 

But this young man's selfish and evil ways soon 
brought him into unexpected griefs. His first 
downward steps were easy and flattering. The 
ways of sin and self-pleasing seem strewed with 
flowers, and for a while may fill with laughter and 
delight. But the joy soon palls ; the pleasure fades ; 
and life becomes flat, and stale, and wretched at 
the last. Sin always humiliates and brings to 
want and distress. Like the relentless Shylock, 
it will have its pound of flesh, and reduces to 
utter helplessness when the need is greatest. 
Famine soon comes to the land of the profligate, 
and with it comes want with nothing to satisfy it. 

This prodigal soon found himself destitute, for- 
saken, and starving. Instead of the comforts of 
home and the society of equals, he is with herds 
of swine, and worse fed than they. Sin is a 
denuding robber. It robs of good name, right 
feeling, and self-respect. A convict is known 
only by his number^ and the sinner loses his name 
as a child of God and heir of heaven. He is in 
disgrace; his whole being is reduced to dishonor 
and wretchedness. 



352 THE PERISHING SPENDTHRIFT. 

Homeless, friendless, penniless, and perishing 
with hunger, thoughts of home came into this 
young man's mind. The ill consequences of sin 
are apt to bring the past into impressive remem- 
brance. A robber in his stronghold beside the 
Rhine was made to reflect on the days when as 
a little child he could not sleep without a kiss 
from his mother, and it melted him into repent- 
ance. Napoleon in his misfortune recalled with 
sighs the days of his youth when he went to his 
first communion. And many an one, under the 
weight of what his sins have brought upon him, 
has cried out in his remorse, ' ' O that I were as in 
months past, as in the days when God preserved 
me; when His candle shined upon my head, and 
when by His light I walked through darkness; 
as I was in the days of my youth !" And with 
all the enjoyment which can be gotten out of 
sin, it biteth like a serpent and stingeth like an 
adder. 

Perhaps the most bitter of all the memories of 
this wretched prodigal was that of his wicked in- 
gratitude. He had given sorrow to his father and 
caused a grief to his mother that had perhaps 
brought her to her grave. And as iron in his 
soul were these reflections now. To think of 
happy homes made sorrowful and lives destroyed 
by our sin, and lips that might have spoken our 
forgiveness for ever silenced, is a terrible thing. 
Nor can repentance undo the trouble. It may 
secure us pardon through our Saviour's mediation, 
but it cannot extract the thorns of regret from the 



SEVENTH SUNDAY AFTER TRINITY. 353 

soul. You may mourn over the grave of your 
parent, and be in bitterness for having broken 
that parent's heart ; but that will not bring that 
parent back, nor do away the bitterness. The 
prodigal by genuine repentance may find pardon ; 
but the guilty past he cannot blot out nor forget. 
One of the hardest punishments of sin is remorse, 
— the memory of misdeeds eating into the soul. 
And sooner or later, when cruel wrongs are done, 
the doer's heart will bleed with vain relentings. 
So it has been with many we might name ; and 
so it was with this prodigal in his destitution. 
His greatest misery was his remembrance of the 
happy home he had so recklessly abandoned, and 
the wretchedness he had so wickedly brought 
upon himself. 

It was "when he came to himself" that these 
torturing remembrances seized him. This implies 
that he had been acting all the while like a man 
beside himself, — like one possessed, bewitched, or 
idiotic. And so it is with every one who lives 
only to gratify his selfishness and lusts. Whoso- 
ever chooses the ways of sin is a lunatic, a mad- 
man, one beside himself. Who in his right senses 
would give up a comfortable home to live so as to 
be made to envy the swine their food ! When one 
in a moment of frenzy destroys his own life we 
account him insane : what then shall be said of 
him who knows the right, yet gives himself to 
the bad, — who throws away his life on sin, — who 
makes himself the murderer of his own soul? 

But this prodigal's coming to himself was a 

23 



354 TH E PERISHING SPENDTHRIFT. 

painful process. It disclosed to him a base and 
wicked past for which he could render no justifi- 
cation or excuse. It is said that a man feels no 
pain in drowning, but suffers agonies in being re- 
stored. So the wandering and sinful, captivated 
by their pleasures, feel no compunctions; but re- 
pentance brings a different state of things. Then 
bitter anguish invades the soul and the cry comes: 

O pleasures past, what are ye now, 
But thorns about my bleeding brow, — 
Spectres that hover round my brain, 
And aggravate and mock my pain ! 

The sinful and hardened heart must indeed be 
melted with sorrow for its ungrateful and unholy 
past before there can be sure amendment for the 
future. Peter's bitter tears had to flow before he 
could lift his eyes to the Saviour he had denied 
or read his pardon in that Saviour's smiles. And 
so it is in every case of true repentance. There 
is no salvation where there is no painful sorrow 
over the sins of a misspent past. 

Many are so dimsighted as to think they have 
no ill past to lament. They have no idea that 
they have ever played the part of prodigal sons or 
daughters ; but such have not yet quite come to 
themselves. Were their vision clear they would 
see enough to fill them with repentant grief. If 
you have never sinned against earthly parents, 
you have plentifully sinned against your good 
Father in heaven. Think how He has fed and 
clothed you all these years, and how safely He 



SEVENTH SUNDAY AFTER TRINITY. 355 

has led you through the perilous wilderness of 
this world. Think of the health, peace, prosper- 
ity, friends, and comforts He has given you to 
enjoy. Think how He has kept His finger day 
and night upon your heart that it might not cease 
to beat, — how His good providence and guardian 
angels have ever been about your path, upheld 
you in your steps, watched about your bed, and 
given all the light and flowers that have cheered 
your life. And then consider the sort of returns 
you have made for all this. Has your gratitude 
and love been in any degree commensurate with 
the goodness bestowed ? Has there been no for- 
getfulness, — no abuse of favors, — no neglect of 
God, — no disobedience to His laws, — no resistance 
of His gracious calls, — no trampling on His mer- 
cies, — no turning away from His Word, His 
House, and His Son ? Alas, alas ! Who among 
us has not abundant reason to strike his breast and 
cry, "God be merciful to me, a sinner !" 

It was a good thing in this prodigal that he so 
far came to himself as to see the rags, the want, 
the misery to which sin had brought him. It 
was the starting-point toward a better life. Hav- 
ing learned that his relinquishment of the place 
and treatment of a son had made him a bondslave 
of a foreign master, and a starving wretch who 
would willingly have filled himself with the food 
of swine but could not command even that ; he 
was now in a condition to take the right means 
for his salvation. And only as he thus came to 
loath his folly and his sin, and to condemn and 



35^ THE PERISHING SPENDTHRIFT. 

hate what had brought him down so low was 
there any hope of escape from his wretchedness. 
And so we all need to know and feel what an 
evil thing and bitter it is to depart from the living 
God, that we may get upon the road to deliverance 
and life. 

When the prodigal came to himself he began to 
long for the bread of his father's house. Loath- 
ing the food and fruit of his waywardness, there 
was nothing now that he could relish but the 
bread of the house he had so wickedly left. It 
was a favorable symptom. 

It is said of a young man of Brittany that he 
went out to fight for his country. The fatigues 
and hardships of war laid him low. He had come 
to the conviction that he must die. Nothing 
could rouse him from his deep despondency and 
distress. All the delicacies which kind hands 
brought to him remained untouched and untasted. 
He had no appetite for them. At length his 
father came to his bedside, drew forth a coarse 
loaf such as the young man used to eat at home, 
and said, ' ' Take this, my son. Your mother 
made it for you. ' ' The young soldier opened his 
languid eyes, seized the loaf, and began to eat, 
saying, " How good is this bread from home ! " — 
It was the commencement of his complete recov- 
ery. And it is ever a sign of returning health 
when souls grow sick of the world's wages and 
long for the spiritual food of the Father's house. 
The bread of home is the bread of life. 

But this prodigal did not remain sitting, lament- 



SEVENTH SUNDAY AFTER TRINITY. 357 

ing, and longing. He aroused himself to action. 
He said to himself, "I will arise, and go to my 
father. ' ' He did not know how that father would 
receive him. He knew only his ill desert, his 
wretchedness, and the starving condition to 
which his sins had reduced him. But his mind 
was made up what to do. He would throw him- 
self on his father's mercy. Worthless, wicked, 
disobedient as he had been, he would cast himself 
in humble confession at his father's feet, hoping 
perchance for some favor, even if no more than 
to be made one of the hired servants. 

And as he determined so he did ; and it was his 
salvation. He built his hopes on a father's love. 
They were only dim and uncertain hopes, but he 
ventured upon them, confessing his sin and hum- 
bly pleading for some slight compassion. And 
this is just what is needed in the case of every 
wretched wanderer from God. There must be 
trust in the heavenly Father's love, and a practi- 
cal rising up to test it by return. Unworthy, 
ragged, wicked, and starving as a soul may be, 
there is plenty of bread in the Father's house ; 
but there must be a turning of back upon all sin- 
ful ways, and an humble suing for mercy. To 
sit still, and moan, and wait is to perish. There 
must be a prompt and decided rising up, a vigor- 
ous direction of the steps homeward, honest con- 
fession of sin, and humble pleading for forgive- 
ness, ready to accept the humblest place in the 
Father's house. There is no other way, — no 
other hope. 



358 THE PERISHING SPENDTHRIFT. 

And this ragged, sin-stained, and unworthy 
prodigal met with a thousandfold more favor than 
he for one moment dreamed. Nothing can ex- 
tinguish the love that lies embedded in the pa- 
rental bosom. The child may forget home and 
friends, but a parent can never forget the child. 
Wicked and wide wandering as it may have be- 
come, so long as its father or mother lives there 
is somewhere in the world a heart that beats 
kindly in its behalf and wishes it well. The 
story is not overdone which represents the old 
grandfather as unable to realize that little Nell 
was dead, but kept on to the end repeating, u She 
will come again to-morrow." And though this 
ungrateful son had done so ill and degraded him- 
self so deeply, his father's earnest well- wishes for 
him had suffered no diminution. In his father's 
heart there was a constant outlook and hope that 
the erring prodigal would retrace his steps, and 
come back to the home he had so wickedly for- 
saken. And when the returning sinner was yet 
a great way off the father saw him, recognized 
him even in his emaciation and rags, and was 
moved with his tenderest compassion for his 
truant child. And so it is that the good Father 
in heaven pities His erring children on the earth, 
and looks, and longs, and waits for their return 
to Him, ready to embrace them with loving arms, 
to forgive their sins, and to welcome them to the 
highest favors within His gift. 

When the returning prodigal was yet a great 
way off his father ran to meet him. And so the 



SEVENTH SUNDAY AFTER TRINITY. 359 

heavenly Father comes to meet every returning 
penitent. Every sigh of sorrow over sin He 
hears. Every tear of penitential regret He sees. 
And to every movement of spirit to come back 
from sinful alienation He graciously responds. 
Nor is there a repenting sinner He does not meet 
halfway. 

Dear soul, disappointed, wasted, and unhappy 
in your wandering from God, have you ever 
thought of the good and plenty in your Father's 
house ? Have you ever compared your present 
condition to the good and happiness which there 
has place? Have you ever considered what a 
blessed boon it would be if you could enjoy even 
the humblest measure of what is there in unfail- 
ing plenty ? Has there never arisen in your breast 
a desire to get back to that good home, and that 
good Father's love? What then has been the 
fruit of it ? Has it moved you to do anything to 
better your sad estate ? Hiring yourself to earthly 
masters cannot help. Home, — sweet home, — is 
the proper place for you. There there is enough 
and to spare, while you perish with hunger. A 
Father with undying love and kindness is there 
to receive and welcome you, if you but trust to 
His goodness and come. But you must arise and 
go to your Father. 

Some are yet a great way off from God and 
righteousness, who perhaps have only just begun 
to think of forsaking sin, and going home to the 
Father. They may be weak, doubtful, and un- 
certain, but would like to leave their bad ways 



360 THE PERISHING SPENDTHRIFT. 

and get back to God and peace. Let not such be 
disheartened. God's compassion for you has not 
been exhausted. His love for you has not died 
out. He is even now looking and waiting for 
your return. His eyes see what is going on in 
your heart. And He is ready to meet you half- 
way. Only have confidence to act with prompt- 
ness and decision,, and all will be well. 

Indeed, we are all of us too far off from the 
good Father in heaven, and suffer much by reason 
of it. There is not one but has need to resolve, 
and arise, and hasten to get nearer by humble 
penitence and confession. Nor are we at all safe 
except as we get back to the favor of Him whom 
we have too much grieved and offended. But 
there is a home for us with Him as His children 
in the Father's House; and the word to every 
one is, Come home, my wandering child, come 
home. 



&§t a®ag to tf)e jFattet, 

Eighth Sunday after Trinity. 




Jesus saith unto him, I am the Way, the Truth, and the Life : no 
man cometh unto the Father, but by Me. — Jno. 14 : 6. 

HESUS had just been speaking to His 
disciples about His departure out of this 
world, and His going to the Father. 
Whither He was about to go, and the 
way by which they were to come to the same 
place, they were supposed to know. 

Christ had been showing and telling them all 
these things. But those who have the best op- 
portunities are sometimes slow to take in and 
realize the truth. Thomas spoke up, and said, 
" Lord, we know not whither Thou goest; and 
how can we know the way?" There had been no 
lack of plainness in what the Lord had said and 
taught; and yet the mind of Thomas was mys- 
tified about it, and could not see through it. 
Philip also put a question so stupid that Jesus 
exclaimed at his dulness. But for the clearing 
up of the matter, He answered Thomas' speech, 
and said: ii I am the Way, the Truth, and the 
Life : no man cometh to the Father, but by Me" 

361 



362 THE WAY TO THE FATHER. 

I. These words assume that the true goal of 
life is, to come to the Father, that is, to God. 
But what is it to come to God ? It does not mean 
coming to His being ; for no one can ever get 
away from that. Hence the Psalmist's exclama- 
tion: "Whither shall I go from Thy Spirit? or 
whither shall I flee from Thy presence? If I 
ascend up into heaven, Thou art there: if I make 
my bed in hell, behold, Thou art there. If I 
take the wings of the morning, and dwell in the 
uttermost parts of the sea; even there shall Thy 
hand lead me, and Thy right hand shall hold 
me." And wherever God is, He is in all the 
fullness and almightiness of His being; so that in 
these respects there can be no going from Him or 
coming to Him. Nay, we live, and move, and 
have our being in Him, and cannot absent our- 
selves from His presence and power. 

To come to God means the coming to a right 
consciousness of Him, to a proper knowledge of 
His character and attributes, to a realization in 
our souls and convictions that He is, and that 
He is a rewarder of all them that diligently seek 
Him. It means the attainment of such a moral 
nearness to Him as to find in Him the supreme 
object of our interest and affection, the supreme 
joy of our hearts, the All in all of our thoughts, 
wishes, aims, and emotions. When our souls rest 
in God, in His glory, in His love, and in His will 
and purposes, we have come to the Father. And 
when all this is accomplished, it is heaven, — all 
that we can wish or enjoy of happiness and good. 



EIGHTH SUNDAY AFTER TRINITY. 363 

Iyife has no higher goal. There is nothing 
superior for man, or any moral being. It is the 
sublimest portion to which it is possible for us to 
aspire. 

II. But it is further assumed in these words 
that mankind in this sense have gotten far away 
from God. We are born in utter ignorance of 
Him, and at best are slow in coming to a proper 
knowledge of Him. Nature around us and within 
us ever prophesies of Him, and tells of His eter- 
nal power and Godhead ; but the human soul is 
so full of darkness and corruption that it is ex- 
ceedingly dull in comprehending the truth, and 
still more faulty in living up to what it does per- 
ceive. Man is a bundle of ever-craving desires, 
which never rest ; and the true object of those 
cravings is God, whose offspring we are. But so 
perverted is our nature that these cravings go out 
after a thousand things which are not God, and 
which can by no means fill His place. God is the 
one only abiding good of the soul. 

But until grace takes hold of us, and the Spirit 
regenerates, illumines, and renews us, there is no 
sort of moral nearness to Him. There is no love 
of God, no right reverence for His Name, no sym- 
pathy with His character or will, no seeking unto 
Him as our supreme good. Born with a corrupt 
and biased nature, the whole development of life, 
except as turned and modified by the operations 
of renewing grace, are adverse to the divine holi- 
ness, and one continuous rebellion against God's 
just and righteous government. 



364 THE WAY TO THE FATHER. 

When Adam sinned a wide gulf came between 
him and God. And the more his posterity multi- 
plied the wider this gulf became ; leaving to us in 
the course of nature nothing but a fearful looking 
for judgment and fiery indignation. 

III. But it is further assumed and taught us in 
the text that arrangements have been made for 
the bridging of this gulf, and the opening of a 
way by which guilty and alien souls may come 
back to the Father of their spirits and live. 
Those arrangements were fore-announced from 
the beginning, and in due time were completed 
in Jesus, who here proclaims himself The Way to 
the Father. 

This is a blessed announcement. It declares 
all impediments to our salvation covered and clean 
gone in Christ Jesus. In Him there has come a 
revelation of God's character, goodness, love, and 
gracious purposes to show us the Father, to do 
away with our fears, to attract our confidence, and 
to kindle penitential desire to return to His em- 
braces. In Jesus there has been wrought an 
ample satisfaction for our sins, a payment of our 
debt, a covering for our unrighteousness, a release 
from our condemnation, and a free and full for- 
giveness for all our guilt and wrongdoing. In 
Him there is an effectual mediatorship between 
God and man, by which God is reconciled to His 
erring creature, and the way is open for us to 
enjoy His favor. In His righteousness there is 
justification for us, and from Him hath come a 



EIGHTH SUNDAY AFTER TRINITY. 365 

Spirit of life and power to regenerate willing 
souls, to beget in us a new Godward aspiration, to 
overcome our love of sin, and to set us into action 
to be rid of it. In Him there has arisen a new 
Sun of Righteousness to drive away our darkness, 
to warm us into right affections, and to bring us 
under a new principle of gravitation. In Him we 
have a new Head and King to answer for us, to 
throw open our prison doors, to go before us as 
our Leader and Lord, to fight our battles for us, 
and to bring all who follow and trust in Him to 
the same eternal home of purity and peace with 
Himself in the Father's house. A glorious way 
to the Father has thus been provided. 

In all this, Jesus is the Way, the Truth, and 
the Life, — the effectual and perfect bridge over the 
gulf of separation between God and sinful man, — 
the certain path by which condemned and lost 
souls may come to the same goal and blessedness 
to which He hath given promise to bring all who 
are planted upon Him as their hope. 

Jesus is not only a sign-post to point out the 
way to heaven ; but He is Himself the Way, — a 
mediator with living and almighty arms to grasp 
us into himself, to bear us on His shoulders and 
in His heart, to float us as a bark upon a full- 
flowing river, and thus to bring us to His home 
with God. All the means, the truth, the life in- 
volved in our complete salvation are personally 
centred and embodied in Him ; so that we have 
only to plant ourselves upon Jesus, cling to Him, 
trust in Him, and give ourselves to Him in full 



366 THE WAY TO THE FATHER. 

and confident surrender to His will and leader- 
ship, in order to pass out of condemnation to 
heavenly acceptance, from death to life, from 
aliens to fellow-citizenship with the saints, from 
children of wrath to sons of God. And Jesus thus 
proclaims himself the Way, the Truth, and the 
Life, that we may know whereon to plant our 
feet, and rest assured that in Him we have eternal 
redemption. This is most certainly true. 

IV. But it is here still further declared that there 
is no other way of life for us. While Jesus pro- 
claims himself the Way, the Truth, and the Life 
He is particular to add: "No man cometh unto 
the Father but by Me." He is the only Way; 
and failing to take Him, we must needs stay and 
perish in our alienation and sin. 

Many think to come to God and heaven by way 
of their own works, virtues, and goodness. But 
people can be moral, truthful, charitable, upright, 
and very exemplary and useful members of society 
without believing in Christ at all. There have 
been heathen men and people who quite reject the 
doctrine of Christ's atoning mediatorship, who 
yet have been models of good citizenship, com- 
mendable in life, and charitable in temper and 
deeds. Nor can we say that their excellent mo- 
rality will be of no sort of consideration in God's 
final awards. But the pointed and positive words 
of Jesus must hold true, that He is the Way, the 
Truth, and the Life ; and that no man can come 
to the Father but by Him. People will be re- 



EIGHTH SUNDAY AFTER TRINITY. 367 

warded according to their works, but they cannot 
be saved by them ; for only ' ' he that hath the 
Son hath life, and he that hath not the Son of 
God hath not life." 

Many think to be saved by trusting to other 
mediators. Some have mythic Saviours that 
exist only in fancy, to whom they commit their 
souls. Some trust in human priests to do for 
them and set all right with God. Some make 
mere ceremonies, rites, and sacrifices their de- 
pendence, as if ritual observances, fasts, abnega- 
tions, will-worship, and such like compensations 
for sin are to take them to heaven. Some pray 
to saints, or the Virgin Mary, or to angels, trust- 
ing to their merits and intercessions to save them. 
But to all this the word of Jesus is, u JVo man 
cometh to the Father, but by Me" 

And so there be some who hope for salvation 
through Christ, but give themselves no concern 
to be conformed to Him in life, temper, or righte- 
ous obedience. Good works of ours cannot save 
us; but we have no right to count ourselves saved, 
or on the way to salvation, while we live in sin 
and make no effort to model our hearts and doings 
to the holy example our Saviour has set us. 
" Faith without works is dead, being alone." A 
good tree bringeth forth good fruit ; and if faith 
does not lead to righteous living and doing, it is 
not yet of sufficient power to put us on the Way 
to heaven. " Faith must obey the Father's will, 
as well as trust His grace." 

Dear friends, there be man)' refuges of lies by 



368 THE WAY TO THE FATHER. 

which sinners have sought to shelter themselves 
in hope of escaping the divine condemnation ; but 
there is only one Way to the Father, and that is 
through Jesus Christ, embraced by faith, and de- 
voutly served. If we ask what is the way to 
heaven, Jesus answers, ' ' I am the Way. " If we 
ask whether there is any other Way, He answers 
' ' None. " If we ask whether there be not some 
exceptions in favor of good and virtuous people 
whom we may hope to meet in heaven, His answer 
is No : u no man cometh unto the Father but by 
Me." Timothy, who knew the Scriptures from 
a child, and Mary Magdalene possessed by seven 
devils, had but one way to salvation. The loving 
John who leaned upon the Saviour's breast, and 
the malefactor dying for his crimes, had but one 
way to Paradise ; and that is the way of faith in 
Christ Jesus. All need expiation for their guilt. 
All need quickening and renewal of their hearts 
by His Spirit. All need a Saviour who can give 
life to the dead. All need a competent and avail- 
ing intercessor to stand for them before the throne. 
And in Jesus only can such a Helper be found. 

Most people have some idea of going to heaven 
when they die. They love to hear of that Father's 
house in which are many mansions. They often 
think of it, and talk of departed friends as there, 
and fondly cherish the hope of meeting them 
where all tears are dried and parting is no more. 
And it is well that their hearts are so far awake 
and alive to the heavenly blessedness. But some- 
thing more is necessary. The question is, have 



EIGHTH SUNDAY AFTER TRINITY. 369 

they betaken themselves to the only Way to 
heaven ? Have they learned to know, confess, 
and trust in Jesus ? Have they joined themselves 
to Him as their Lord and their salvation? O dear 
friends, be careful that you do not cheat your 
souls with hopes of coming to the Father-home 
without seeking and appropriating the one only 
Way to it. 

24 



Ninth Sunday after Trinity. 



^(afc 





And He turned Him unto His disciples, and said privately, Blessed 
are the eyes which see the things that ye see ; for I tell you, that many 
prophets and kings have desired to see the things which ye see, and 
have not seen them ; and to hear those things which ye hear, and 
have not heard them. — Luke io : 23, 24. 

HANY people do not know when they are 
well off. Even the most favored do not 
half appreciate what they have. This 
is especially true with regard to spiritual 
privileges. The Apostles themselves needed to be 
told and admonished with regard to their favored 
estate in this respect. And even when their at- 
tention was called to it, they did not half under- 
stand the character and value of what the good 
providence of God had vouchsafed to them. When 
ills and privations come we keenly feel them; but 
our blessings we take as a matter of course. 

But not so would the Saviour have us feel and 
act. He would have us understand and appre- 
ciate His favors, especially those which relate to 
our spiritual and eternal welfare. This is amply 
shown in what the text brings to our attention. 
What then are ' ' the things ' ' to which the 



NINTH SUNDAY AFTER TRINITY. 37 1 

Saviour here refers as being seen and heard by 
His disciples; John, who was one of them, speaks 
joyfully of them. ( ' The Word, ' ' says he, ' ' was 
made flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld 
His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of 
the Father, full of grace and truth. ' ' And again, 
' ' That which we have seen with our eyes, which 
we have looked on, and our hands have handled 
of the Word of life, that declare we unto you. ' ' 
In other words, they had seen the Christ, the 
incarnate Son of God, the Redeemer of the world, 
and heard His words, and beheld His miracles. 
They were having familiar converse with the very 
Lord of glory. 

To no people on earth had such privileges 
ever been previously awarded. Some very high 
favors had been vouchsafed to the patriarchs and 
prophets. God had made himself known to them 
by many notable revelations. They had many 
hopeful ideas of the Saviour to come. Abraham 
saw His day, and was glad. "The sufferings of 
Christ, and the glory that should follow," were 
foretold by the prophets in terms of happy ex- 
ultation; but they did not fully understand what 
the Spirit that was in them did signify. It was 
through types and partially understood predic- 
tions that they had to do with Him. But it was 
different with the Apostles. They saw the Christ 
face to face. They were His companions. They 
were the hearers of His words, and the eye- 
witnesses of His mighty works. What they did 
not understand of His public addresses He ex- 



37 2 BLESSED PRIVILEGE. 

plained to them in private. None of the mighty 
kings of old, — not even Moses, David, Elijah, or 
any of the prophets, — ever enjoyed such privi- 
leges. O the blessedness of those apostolic at- 
tendants upon the ministry of the Saviour of the 
world ! We think back upon their lot, and would 
deem it an unspeakable happiness to have what 
they had. 

And yet our privileges to-day are as high, and 
even higher than were theirs at the time the 
Saviour spoke these words. All that they had 
we virtually have. What they saw we also see 
through their eyes. What they heard we hear 
through their ears. All that they witnessed of 
the Saviour's life and doings we have through 
their testimony, and very much more than they 
then comprehended. How could they conceive 
the real majesty of Christ while they saw Him 
hungering, and thirsting, and without "a place 
where to lay His head?" Though full of glad 
anticipations from the greatness of His miracles 
and the wonderfulness of His teachings, they were 
utterly confounded when they beheld Hirn ar- 
rested, condemned, crucified, dead, and entombed. 
How defective and deluded their expectations 
until after His resurrection and the day of Pen- 
tecost ! Until then, What did they know of atone- 
ment by His lifeblood, — of Redemption by His 
cross, — of justification through His death and 
resurrection, — of the Kingdom He came to es- 
tablish? They had as yet no rightly apprehended 
Christmas, — no Good Friday, — no Easter, — no 



NINTH SUNDAY- AFTER TRINITY. 373 

Ascension Day, — no blessed Pentecost. But sub- 
sequently, to them, and thence down to us, have 
come all that they had at the time, and all 
the after demonstrations, teachings, and institutes 
which make up the fullness of the Gospel. No 
false notions are now in the way of a just esti- 
mate of the Christ and His Kingdom. We now 
have the whole plan of redemption plainly before 
us. We see Jesus, made a little lower than the 
angels for the suffering of death, but now crowned 
with glory and honor. We see all the types ful- 
filled in Him, the prophecies luminously accom- 
plished, the power of His salvation reigning over 
millions of hearts, the all-sufficiency of His grace 
everywhere manifest in and around us, and His 
blessed Kingdom spreading throughout the world, 
tempering the spirit of nations, and taking up 
vast realms of humanity into the quickening and 
happy embrace of His love. And whatever con- 
gratulations were due to the first disciples when 
the Saviour spoke the text, they apply in a su- 
perior degree to us. 

We may not think so. We may lament our 
doubts and uncertainties, and fancy how much 
better for us if we could be favored as those who 
accompanied the Saviour, seeing and hearing 
for ourselves what they saw and heard. But we 
vastly discount our privileges. The truth is, we 
see more, know more, understand more, with less 
hindrances to a genuine faith, than they at that 
time. If Capernaum was "exalted to heaven" 
by the presence and doings of Jesus among its 



374 BLESSED PRIVILEGE. 

population, a heaven with a still clearer light and 
mightier appeal is that to which the favor of God 
has lifted the people of our day in these lands 
of churches, Bibles, and exhibits of His saving 
truth. Thomas believed because he saw; but 
Christ pronounces His blessing with greater em- 
phasis upon those ( ' that have not seen, and yet 
have believed." 

People think of the honored kings and prophets 
of the olden time and envy their high privileges. 
But no ancient kings with all their glory nor 
prophets with all their inspiration were blessed in 
point of spiritual light and privilege as we are. 
Bven the immediate attendants of our L,ord as He 
lived and wrought on earth, high and glorious as 
were their opportunities, did not have it in their 
power to know Him as fully or to believe in Him 
as intelligently as may the people of our day. 
John the Baptist saw and testified of Christ and 
showed a wonderful insight into His work and 
mission. But with all his greatness and inspira- 
tion Jesus himself says, " He that is least in the 
kingdom of heaven is greater than he." Nor 
could we ever complain of any lack in spiritual 
light and privileges, if we only knew how well off 
we are. The clear knowledge of salvation and 
the glory of God revealed in it is the highest boon 
that can come to man. And all this is now within 
the reach of all to whom the Gospel is preached. 
O that people did but see and feel what a precious 
thing it is to live in a Christian land, where we 
are encompassed with the story of salvation from 



NINTH SUNDAY AFTER TRINITY. 375 

earliest infancy ; — where the Saviour's cross is 
never out of view ; — where His voice never ceases 
to call the sinwearied and the sorrowing to come 
unto Him and find rest for their souls ! How sad 
that we so little appreciate what prophets and 
kings desired to see, and did not see ; and to hear 
what we hear, and did not hear ! 

Would it be so if people had any right apprecia- 
tion of the Gospel and these Gospel times? Meas- 
ured only by the cost of labor, blood, and treasure 
at which such blessed fortune has come to us in 
these ' ' days of the Son of man, ' ' there never has 
been, in any time, among any people, a spiritual 
heritage so precious. 

And when we look at the sublimities of personal 
exaltation and glory to which we are called, and 
for which the doors stand wide open to ever} 7 one, 
no words can speak nor mind compute the excel- 
lency of the lot which so many only neglect and 
despise. Yes, blessed are the eyes which see the 
things which we see, and the ears which hear the 
things which we hear ! 

But whether we realize it or not, these gracious 
favors and opportunities impose corresponding re- 
sponsibilities. So much given, much will also be 
required. The greatness of the mercies neglected 
augments the condemnation of their neglect. 
When the crash of judgment comes those highest 
in privileges unimproved will fall the hardest. 

Dear friends, let us beware then how we treat 
our privileges. Their blessedness to us depends 
on our faithful attention to them. We need to 



376 BLESSED PRIVILEGE. 

give earnest heed to them, lest at any time we 
should let them slip. And what would we be 
without the light, the assurances, and the prom- 
ises of the Gospel ! There is no forgiveness save 
through the atonement which it preaches ; no 
hope in death but through the Saviour it pre- 
sents ; no blessed heaven save that to which it 
points and tells the way. 

And yet further. Giving all diligence to make 
our own calling and election sure, we must not 
forget that gratitude demands of us to do also 
what we can to have others partake of the same 
blessedness. Rejoicing in the light, it is our 
mission to spread it. And in this duty we each 
and all have a share. 



Tenth Sunday after Trinity. 




Beware lest any man spoil you through philosophy and vain deceit, 
after the tradition of men, after the rudiments of the world, and not 
after Christ.— Col. 2 : 8. 

HE best and fairest things in this world 
are liable to be spoiled. The earth is a 
realm of ruins, and nothing good in it 
is safe. Man was made but a little lower 
than the angels, but his glory was soon tarnished. 
The holiest gifts are liable to be perverted. The 
richest flowers are often blasted in their bud. 
There is not a saint among men beyond the 
reach of danger. Even religion itself, pure as 
the Divine mind from which it comes, is liable 
to be despoiled in the hands and in the hearts of 
its possessors. Such at least are the implications 
of the text, and the foundation of its cautions. 

Beautiful is true religion, — the simple taking 
of Jesus as our prophet, priest, and king. With 
the Bible in its hand, it stands by the cross, and 
looks up into the face of God with all the loving 
confidence of an accepted child. The voice of 
prayer, thanksgiving, and adoration is on its lips; 
but it does not rest in mere laudations. It is 

377 



37$ DANGEROUS EXPOSURE. 

honest, industrious, benevolent, and good; though 
it does not imagine that its works can justify be- 
fore God; nor its moralities and charities exempt 
from worship and faith in Jesus. It is earnest 
and zealous; but it does not take mere emotion 
and ecstacy for Christian experience, nor regard a 
momentary zeal for God as an evidence of real 
piety. It has its creed, which it acknowledges 
and defends; but it does not regard orthodoxy as 
all that is demanded, or feel justified in bigotry, 
uncharitableuess, or persecution, because ( ' The 
form of sound words" is on its tongue. It loves 
to be in retirement with God; but it does not 
hunt for isolation from human society, as if that 
were the way to heaven, or seek its holiness in 
exclusion from the world in which God has placed 
it to labor and diffuse its healthfulness. It does 
not take saying prayers for piety; nor morality 
for religion; nor theology for faith; nor counting 
beads, penances, fasts, or monkery for righteous- 
ness; nor a sudden spring of an excited brain for 
forgiveness of sins. It sees everything in Christ. 
It sees God in Christ, and sees itself in Christ. 
It sees its righteousness in Christ, its justification 
in Christ, its exemplar in Christ, its hope in 
Christ. It sees the penalty of sin in the sacrifice 
of Christ; and realizes forgiveness in the promise 
of Christ; and finds its duty in the commands of 
Christ; and relies for help upon the grace of 
Christ. It weeps, but sorrows not as those who 
have no hope. It sometimes falls, but is not 
utterly cast down. It trembles, but it does not 



TENTH SUNDAY AFTER TRINITY. 379 

despair. It is beset with oft misgivings, but it 
gives itself up in solemn covenant to God, and 
feels sure that He cannot disappoint those who 
trust in Him. 

How beautiful ! How true to our better in- 
stincts ! In every feature it shows the light and 
excellence of the genius and benevolence of God. 

But man, in his delirium, is oft unwilling to 
receive it or to accept it as it is. His sickly 
reason is prone to find in it deficiencies, mistakes, 
and defects. Even where it has taken up its 
residence in the mind, and begun to spread its 
radiance over the character, it is subject to damage 
and decay. It needs to be guarded on all sides, 
lest it be u spoiled. ' ' 

And there be many spoilers of it. The Apostle 
names a number of them. 

1. The first is philosophy, so-called. 

Men of the supposed higher learning look 
askance at religion. They say, Yes, it is good; 
but some of its features need to be a little modi- 
fied. It takes too humbling a view of humanity. 
It lays too much stress on the Bible, which is 
not what people think it. They are willing to 
admit that it is a book of much good history, 
a book of sublime poetry, a book of excellent 
moral precepts, a book which admirably describes 
human nature, a book from which all men may 
gather a great deal of practical wisdom and com- 
forting promise. But it is somewhat superannu- 
ated, and many of its texts are spurious or faulty. 
The geologist has bored the earth, and found it 



380 DANGEROUS EXPOSURE. 

much older than Moses seems to say. The astron- 
omer has measured off the universe, and thinks 
our world too insignificant to be the object of all 
that Divine concern of which the Bible speaks. 
The anatomist has examined the skulls of dead 
men, and compared the one with the other, and 
questions whether they have all proceeded from 
one pair. The natural historian has never found 
a race of snakes with powers of speech, and so he 
puts down the account of the serpent in Eden as 
a myth. The family of man speaks hundreds of 
languages, and men proclaim it a mere dream 
that there once was a time when u the whole 
earth was of one language and one speech." 
Miracles they say are so contrary to the general 
experience of mankind that they must be re- 
jected or explained away; and what cannot be 
naturally accounted for they put down as false- 
hood or fiction. And this they call philosophy. 
And, strangely enough, this diluted and emas- 
culated theology is by many accepted and counted 
for the true wisdom. Some are content to reject 
everything distinctive in revealed religion, and 
count themselves believers, when they are mere 
rationalists, pantheists, deists ; — proud, cold, 
phlegmatic, sneering Sadducees. They are 
spoiled by their philosophy. Follow them, and 
you let go all proper hold on Christ, and you throw 
up your interest in heaven. How do they know 
the length of time it took Almighty God to place 
the various strata which compose the crust of the 
earth, or that they rightly understand Moses? 



TENTH SUNDAY AFTER TRINITY. 381 

How can they tell that this world is too small to 
engage Jehovah so deeply for its welfare ? How 
do they know that that old serpent was a snake ? 
How can they prove that the human race and 
language therewith do not extend back to one 
common stock ? How dare they deny the credi- 
bility of miracles in the face of the many wonders 
which are spread around them every day and en- 
acted every season in their sight? And what au- 
thority have they to contradict the testimony of 
God to our sinfulness, or to dispute the damning 
nature of wickedness ? They think themselves 
wise, and they have not yet learned enough to 
learn that they are but babes and fools in these 
matters ! They are but spoilers of the truth, 
against whom we need to be on our guard. 
''Blessed is the man that sitteth not in the seat 
of the scornful." 

2. But the boasting philosopher is not the only 
spoiler of religion. The text speaks of the vain 
deceiver. This character comes in many shapes. 
He looks upon religion and says: "Yes, it is a 
grand thing. People can't do without it. It fits 
so admirably to their nature that they cannot alto- 
gether resist it. It addresses the deepest and 
mightiest feelings of their hearts, and they must 
feel it. He who comes wrapt in its sacred garb 
cannot fail to awaken reverence and command re- 
spect. I will therefore adopt it. But I will not 
merge myself into the vulgar mass of believers, nor 
remain in the obscurity of an ordinary saint. I 
will make myself a name and influence. I will be 



382 DANGEROUS EXPOSURE. 

a reformer. I will take advantage of the weakness 
of human nature and get me a following. I will 
avail myself of the power of religion, and in the 
name of God I will sway men and bring them to 
my standard. ' ' And so if he at first received the 
faith it soon became a mere means to an end, 
and often a very base end. A Mahomet rises and 
spreads the veil of dark superstition over millions 
for ages. A Hildebrand rises and does what is 
almost as bad. Romish popes and Jesuits and 
Protestant popes and Jesuits come forth to spoil, 
enslave, and destroy. One says lo, here is Christ, 
and another says lo, there is Christ. Sectarian 
champions, some with one hobby and some with 
another, go forth in the grand battle for personal 
notoriety, promotion, power, and gain. And in 
the many-sided conflict, excited and sustained by 
personal ambition, religion is degraded, distorted, 
crippled ; Christ is crucified afresh ; and the glad 
hopes of a free salvation are prostituted into a vile 
battle-cry that Heaven is open to him who dies 
fighting for his leader ! It is awful to think of 
the traffic and speculation carried on by designing 
men and religious demagogues of both sexes in 
the hopes and fears of people more honest than 
themselves. Hence says Paul,. * * Beware lest any 
man spoil you through vain deceit. ' ' Serving a 
sect is not always serving God, and serving self is 
serving the devil. 

3. Another spoiler mentioned by the Apostle is 
tradition. Traditions are the opinions, doctrines, 
or customs entailed from a father to a son, or from 



TENTH SUNDAY AFTER TRINITY. 383 

one generation to another. Whatever is approved 
and handed down from age to age is tradition. 
But traditions are not always right and good. 
We have much by tradition ; but we may also err 
by tradition. Jesus tells of people who trans- 
gressed the commandment of God by their tradi- 
tions, and taught for doctrines the commandments 
of men. Paul once persecuted the Church in his 
exceeding zeal for the traditions of his fathers. 
Peter speaks of some who were lost in vain con- 
versation originating in tradition. By traditions 
the Jewish Church was brought to desolation. 
And to rest on tradition is to follow a blind guide 
and to give ourselves into the hands of the spoiler. 
Men have relied upon tradition, and it put the foot 
of the pope on their necks. They have followed 
tradition, and it gave them the priest instead of 
Christ, and Mary instead of the only Saviour of 
sinners, and masses and penances, and confes- 
sionals instead of that righteousness which alone 
can justify before God. Beware, therefore, says 
the holy apostle, lest any man spoil you by the 
traditions of men. Some of them may be good 
and true ; but we have ( ' a more sure word'' ' 
which came in old time, not by the will of man, 
but holy men of God spake as they were moved 
by the Holy Ghost. This is the only charter of 
our hopes ; the only anchor for our faith ; the only 
infallible guide for our lives. While tradition 
accords with this, we need not fear it ; but where 
it deviates, let God be true though it should make 
all the fathers liars. In some cases the fathers 



384 DANGEROUS EXPOSURE. 

may help us to a better understanding of the 
Scriptures. We should give their learning, their 
advantages, and their convictions the respect 
which belongs to them ; but they were but men, 
and erred like other men, and we must always 
appeal from them to the written word, which is 
able to make us wise unto salvation. 

4. But we are also cautioned against ' ' the rudi- 
ments of the worlds" — the manners, superstitions, 
idolatries, and maxims which obtain among men 
of the world. It is a hard thing to keep clear of 
the influences around us. All men feel more or 
less that when in Rome they must do as Rome 
does. Even the most rigid and unyielding things 
are affected by external pressures. And we are 
liable thus to be affected in our religion as well as 
in anything else. The Jews had a pure religion, 
but heathenish elements were ever and anon 
mingling with it. Moloch would now and then 
lift up his bloody arms in the very presence of 
Jehovah's temple, and the priests of Baal oft sup- 
planted the sons of Aaron. And when Christ 
came the Jewish religion was exceedingly cor- 
rupted with Gentileism and worldliness. The 
Christian religion started out on the pure basis of 
the ancient revelations. But it was liable to the 
same influences, and in all ages has suffered from 
the same causes. It was given to the world as a 
plain, simple system, unadorned except with its 
sublime spirituality. But when kings and empe- 
rors began to take it into favor they carried their 
worldly pomp with them into the Church. Mag- 



TENTH SUNDAY AFTER TRINITY. 385 

nificent outward ceremonies were instituted. Gor- 
geous rituals were devised. Privileged orders were 
appointed. Mediatory offices were multiplied. 
Judgeships and authorities were set up. And at 
last what started as Christianity became but little 
more than baptized heathenism. In place of the 
old gods were patron saints. Venus became 
Mary. The elements of the world supplanted the 
Spirit of Christ. The true glory of the Church 
was gone ; Anti-Christ had come into the temple 
of Christ. 

And the same causes which thus spoiled the 
ancient Church much cripple and spoil Christian- 
ity now. Professing Christians sometimes become 
as worldly as worldlings themselves ; and wordly 
tastes and ideas assert themselves even in religious 
things. The fashions and tastes and likes of an 
ungodly world are consulted in place of the word 
of Jesus. Something to draw, — something to at- 
tract, — something to entertain, — something differ- 
ent from the simple old ways — must be had ; and 
the Spirit of Christ is killed out with new im- 
provements and human inventions. Personal 
piety suffers from the same cause. Men of busi- 
ness must yield to the tricks of trade ; people 
must keep up appearances, though it be at the 
expense of honesty ; they immerse themselves be- 
yond measure in earthly cares and then plead 
them as reason for exemption from spiritual du- 
ties ; leanness comes over them and their religion 
is spoiled. 

Brethren, it is no use to disguise the fact; this 

25 



$86 DANGEROUS EXPOSURE. 

world is no friend to grace and no helper to our 
salvation. If we would approve ourselves unto 
God, we must beware of it and watch ourselves 
perpetually. The Apostle thus cautions us to 
take heed. Religion was not designed to take us 
from our business, but to keep us at it for the 
glory of our Maker and the good of men. But 
no business is rightly conducted which does not 
proceed upon the principles of justice, fraternity, 
and benevolence. Religion was never designed 
to abridge our enjoyment of the good things of 
this life; but to regulate our desires and to keep 
our hearts set upon eternal good. Only let us 
take Christ, and adhere with confidence to His 
simple word and Gospel, and we will need no aid 
from philosophy, tradition, or the rudiments of 
the world, either to complete our own personal 
hopes or to commend our religion to others. 

All that is "not after Christ" in sacred things 
is wood, and hay, and stubble, which can by no 
means stand the fires of judgment, and will be 
worse than lost to those who rely upon it. Phi- 
losophy may be good, and tradition may be good, 
and many elements of the world may be good; 
but Christ is better, and His word a better guide 
than all the pretended helps of earth. They that 
put their trust in Him shall not be put to con- 
fusion. Where philosophy fails He can help us. 
Where tradition is powerless He is mighty. And 
when the whole fashion of the world shall pass 
away He will be the everlasting Deliverer of 
them that are His. 



TENTH SUNDAY AFTER TRINITY. 387 

Philosophy may spoil us, but it cannot sanctify 
us. Tradition may lead us into error, but it can 
give us no certain assurance of our acceptance 
with God. The world may enslave and ruin us, 
but it never can exalt us in the eye of God, or 
add to the joys of our immortality. But in 
Christ all things are ours. With our hearts firmly 
grounded in the stabilities of the simple truth as 
it is in Jesus, philosophy, tradition, the world, 
everything becomes subservient to our welfare 
and a minister to our joy: For all things shall 
work together for good to them that love God. 



Eleventh Sunday after Trinity. 




Wherefore do the wicked live ? — Job 21 : 7. 

IE need no argument to prove that the 
wicked do live. If any are holy and 
good, they are exceptions to the gen- 
eral mass of mankind. Not only do the 
wicked live, but they often nourish in all the thrift 
and luxury of life. There is scarcely one among 
us who cannot say with David: " I have seen the 
wicked in great power, and spreading himself 
like a green bay tree." The pampered children 
of pride and folly are to be found on every side. 
"They become old, yea, are mighty in power. 
Their seed is established in their sight with them, 
and their offspring before their eyes. Their houses 
are safe from fear; neither is the rod of God upon 
them."— WJiy is this? 

It is not because they deserve it. The vineyard 
that produces only wild grapes is justly doomed 
to desolation. The figtree which continues barren 
under the tender culture of its owner is right- 
fully sentenced to be cut down. And how can 
those deserve to live who spend their being in 



ELEVENTH SUNDAY AFTER TRINITY. 389 

dishonoring and wronging Him who made them ? 
God has given them breath to praise Him; but 
they employ it in folly, cursing, and blasphemy. 
He has given them powers to comprehend His 
glory; but they never adore Him. He has given 
them His Word ; but they despise and disobey it. 
He has sent His Son to die for them; but they 
contemn Him, and spurn the offers of His Gospel. 
He is infinitely entitled to their devoutest homage 
and sincerest services; yet they never subordinate 
one hearty feeling, thought, or purpose to His 
holy will. He has nourished and brought them 
up as His children; yet they only rebel against 
Him. And if speedy justice were to be meted 
out to them for one sin of a thousand, they would 
all sink in a moment to everlasting death. It is 
not because they deserve it that they live. 

Nor is it because God is not aware of their sins 
and guilt. " Mine eyes are upon all their ways," 
saith He ; ' ' neither is their iniquity hid. " " There 
is no darkness nor shadow of death where the 
workers of iniquity may hide themselves." 

People generally seek retirement, or choose the 
solitary place, or select the covert of the night to 
conceal and hide their crimes. They look care- 
fully on every side to see that there be no witness 
of their unlawful deeds. But they forget that the 
all-seeing eye of God is on them all the while, — 
that those sins of secrecy and night had a voice 
that was heard in heaven, — and that what they 
thought no one should ever know is all written 
down upon the records of eternity. "I know 



39° A SERIOUS PROBLEM. 

your transgressions," saith the L,ord, " and your 
many sins." Verily "all things are naked and 
open unto the eyes of him with whom we have to 
do." Not because their guiltiness is unknown 
then do the wicked live. 

Nor is it bechuse God is not able to punish them. 
He who hurled archangels from their sunny 
thrones cannot be wanting in resources to mete 
out justice to rebel men. He who balances the 
worlds in their orbits and wields the thunders of 
Omnipotence certainly can be at no loss for power 
to crush the puny despisers of His authority that 
crawl upon His footstool. He needs but to speak 
and it is done ; to command and it stands fast. 
And not because He is impotent to punish do the 
wicked live. 

Nor is it because God is satisfied with them or 
indifferent to their wicked7iess. The word is clear 
and plain on this point. ' ' He is not a God that 
hath pleasure in wickedness. " " He is angry 
with the wicked every day." "He hateth all 
workers of iniquity." And the symptoms and 
tokens of His anger are everywhere to be seen in 
the judgments which He sends. 

Nor do the wicked live because God has never 
given sentence against them. It is written that 
' ' God shall cast the fury of his wrath upon the 
wicked and rain it upon them." Of every per- 
sistent sinner the record is, ' ' Though his excel- 
lency mount up to the heavens, and his head 
reach unto the clouds, yet he shall perish forever. ' ' 
The decree has gone forth that "the soul that 



ELEVENTH SUNDAY- AFTER TRINITY. 39 1 

sinneth it shall die. ' ' And it is not because no 
sentence of condemnation is on the wicked that 
they live. 

Nor is it that God does not mean to execute this 
sentence. "God is not a man, that he should 
lie, nor the son of man, that he should repent." 
Men change and shrink from the fulfillment of 
their words ; but God is forever immutable. His 
covenant will He not break nor alter the thing 
that is gone out of His lips. * ' The counsel of the 
Lord standeth forever." "He hath sworn, say- 
ing, surely as I have thought so shall it come to 
pass, and as I have purposed so shall it stand." 
Heaven and earth may pass away, but no jot nor 
tittle of His word shall pass away till all be ful- 
filled. 

Nor do the wicked live because God needs than. 
He indeed uses them. Such are his wonderful 
resources that ' ' He maketh even the wrath of 
man to praise Him." In his mysterious provi- 
dence the godless Assyrian became the rod of His 
anger and the staff of His indignation. The pride, 
tyranny, and blasphemy of Pharaoh are overruled 
to the showing forth of His power and the decla- 
ration of His glory in all the earth. Even the 
wrath and malice of those who crucified the 
Christ were made to open the gates of salvation 
to a ruined world. And so all the mischiefs of 
the wicked shall be turned in the end to work the 
greater glory of His Church and the sublimer hap- 
piness of His saints. But still He does not need 
them. He can carry on His great purposes with- 



392 A SERIOUS PROBLEM. 

out Syria's ambition, or Pharaoh's pride, or Phar- 
isaic malice, or any of those deeds of wickedness 
which He now permits. He can promote virtue 
without the aid of vice, and effect redemption 
without the aid of transgressors. The Divinity 
of Jesus could be established without having the 
devils declare it, and He can conquer the world 
to himself without the help of wars or the diplo- 
macy of ungodly rulers. Not a single sinner, no 
matter what his estate or office, is in any way 
necessary to the L,ord. He is God and can do 
whatsoever he pleases, without the agency of 
those who know Him not. It is not because they 
are needed that they live. 

WJierefore, then, do the wicked live? 

There is but one answer to the question, and 
one of great credit to the goodness and mercy of 
God. Retribution is delayed and sinners live 
that they may have a chance for salvation; for, 
as He lives, He has no pleasure in the death of 
the wicked. ' ' He is not slack concerning His 
promise, as some men count slackness, but is 
long-suffering to usward, not willing that any 
should perish, but that all should come to re- 
pentance. ' ' 

Our God is good, and takes no delight in the 
ruin of creatures made in His own image. He 
would rather that all would turn from their evil 
ways and live. He has gone to great expense and 
pains to provide means for every one's salvation. 
He therefore delays the stroke of wrath, and waits 
and bears with offenders, and meanwhile so directs 



ELEVENTH SUNDAY AFTER TRINITY. 393 

His providence that they may come to a better 
mind, and lay hold of the forgiveness that is in 
Christ. 

The Apostle Peter says that ' ' the long suffer- 
ing °f our Lord is salvation. ' ' There would be 
no chance for us without such forbearance. If 
God were at once to enter into judgment with us, 
it would be impossible for any one to be saved. 
If doom should follow instantaneously upon trans- 
gression, there could be no escape from devouring 
flames. What would have become of David, if 
justice had overtaken him in the midst of his 
criminal passion ? What would have become of 
Manasseh, if God had called him to judgment 
when he was yet profaning the temple with his 
dissoluteness and making the streets of Jerusa- 
lem run down with blood ? What would have 
gone with Peter, if God had made a sudden end 
of his probation while those false and cowardly 
words U I know not the man" were yet on his 
lips? What would have gone with Paul, yet 
breathing out threatening and slaughter against 
the disciples, if that vision of his on the plains 
of Damascus had been a call to the final tribunal 
of his injured God ? And what, alas ! would 
have become of us, if retribution had immedi- 
ately followed transgression, and judgment suc- 
ceeded right on the heels of our guilt ? Who of 
us in that case would be here to-day, in this land 
of hope, with a throne of grace accessible, and 
the prospect of heaven glowing in our hearts? 
Not one; no, not one. 



394 A SERIOUS PROBLEM. 

Every sinner therefore has his day of grace, — 
his respite from just and decreed punishment for 
his offences, — that he may have opportunity to 
repent and be saved. The children of pride and 
folly are not cut down at once, and the lewd and 
profane have their season of probation lengthened 
out, and the guilty revilers of Christ and religion 
are not visited with sudden judgment, that a new 
spirit may be wrought in them and perhaps bring 
them to a knowledge of the truth. David re- 
pented; and Manasseh repented; and Peter re- 
pented; and Saul of Tarsus repented; and many 
grievous offenders were, after a while, recovered 
from their sins to holiness; and sentence against 
the wicked is not executed speedily, in order to 
give room for them to hear the voice of God and 
make their escape to the refuge set before them. 
Year after year of trial is added, that, peradven- 
ture, they may see their folly and return to the 
Shepherd and Bishop of their souls. And to 
furnish every reasonable chance for such changes 
judgment lingers and sinners are permitted to live. 

And, besides the mere matter of time for re- 
pentance, the long-suffering of God is often a 
motive to induce the very reformation for which 
it gives a chance. It is not always so. It is 
a sad and melancholy truth, that, ' ' because 
sentence against an evil work is not executed 
speedily, therefore the heart of the sons of men 
is fully set in them to do evil." There are those 
who make the very forbearance of God a license 
for unconstrained indulgence in sin. Because 



ELEVENTH SUNDAY AFTER TRINITY. 395 

they have leisure after their crimes they study 
to sophisticate the truth, and become vain in 
their imaginations, bold in their unbelief, and 
daring in the work of banishing all reference to 
God and retribution from their thoughts. Be- 
cause their first sins involve them in no imme- 
diate embarrassment and suffering, they go on to 
mature them into fixed habits and make wicked- 
ness a part of their existence. Having com- 
menced a course of lawlessness and rebellion 
against God from which they experience no pres- 
ent disadvantage, they feel emboldened to press 
it to still greater degrees. Many a man is wicked, 
prayerless, and Christless for no other reason than 
that God has been good to him, and has not pro- 
ceeded to judge him at once for his sins. 

But, while multitudes are thus emboldened in 
crime by the very leniency of God, it is different 
with others. There are those to whom God's for- 
bearance and long-suffering become a powerful 
motive to bring them to repentance. Thus it 
was with Luther. The very mercy of God in 
sparing him when Alexis, his friend, was struck 
dead by his side, determined him from that day 
forward to devote himself to God. 

Thus the wicked are permitted to survive their 
crimes that they may have the time and the mo- 
tive to turn themselves and be saved. 

From this, then, let us learn — not to envy the 
prosperity of the wicked. They stand on slippery 
places. They seem to be in peace, but the fires 



396 A SERIOUS PROBLEM. 

of judgment and destruction are roaring under the 
very pavements on which they walk. There is 
everywhere a clamoring for their ruin. God's 
forbearance for a while holds the thunders back, 
that they may fly to Jesus and be safe. But ex- 
cept they repent, their desolation shall soon come, 
and they shall pass away as a dream when one 
awaketh. The curse of the Lord is in their house, 
and hell from beneath is moved to meet them at 
their coming. 

Learn to appreciate the divine goodness and 
mercy. God never strikes till the last hope is 
gone. He bears with unholy people as long as it 
is possible for justice to forbear, and until all 
means are exhausted, only that they may repent 
and be saved. Oh, the depth of the mercy of 
God ! It is high as heaven, deep as the sea, past 
finding out. 

Learn, then, also, to make a right improvement 
of the divine long-suffering. Time, and means, 
and opportunity are given us to escape to the hills 
of salvation ; and judgment delays that we may 
come to a better life. God means that we should 
profit by these mercies ; and all the worse will it 
be for us if we now neglect the great salvation 
which He has so graciously put within our reach. 
And as we value our eternal peace, let no one 
trifle with these days of respite from deserved per- 
dition, lest the harvest pass, and the summer end, 
and all hope be clean gone forever. 



Gracious &f)oug1)te. 

Twelfth Sunday after Trinity. 




I know the thoughts that I think toward you, saith the Lord, 
thoughts of peace, and not of evil. — Jer. 29 : I.I. 

"NE of the most marked features of the 
religion of the Bible is the light in which 
it represents the Divine Being. Pagan- 
ism represents Him as a stock or stone, 
carved into the similitude of a man, or a bird, or 
a four-footed beast, or a creeping thing, without 
intelligence, and even without life. Some, under 
the pretence of exalting His majesty and great- 
ness, represent Him as occupied only in certain 
great creative and conserving acts, and not at all 
concerning himself with the little affairs of human 
life or destiny. 

Men are prone to conclude either that there is 
no God, or that He knows nothing about our 
behavior in this world, or that He is wholly in- 
different to what we do, or say, or think. But 
the holy Book assures us that He is an infinite and 
living Intelligence, who is with everything that 
He has made, not only as an unconcerned specta- 
tor, but as a loving Father, in sympathy with His 
creatures, consulting each one's good, and so 

397 



39^ GRACIOUS THOUGHTS. 

minute in His attentions as to keep count of the 
very hairs of our heads. So far from retiring 
from His works to dwell apart in the secrecy of 
His own unapproachable Godhead, uncaring for 
such worlds as ours or such beings as we, there is 
nothing done, nor said, nor thought, nor felt by 
man but He knows it, and notes it, and thinks of 
it, and orders His dealings with reference to it. 

God does think of us. This He himself affirms 
in the text. The same is also attested in Nature, 
which is one vast volume of divine thoughts, in 
every one of which, if rightly read, we find marks 
and tokens that we have been thought of, and that 
our interests are not unconsidered. In the very 
framework of the heavens above us ; in the adjust- 
ment of the sizes, spheres, and motions of the 
planets and stars; and in the arrangement of the 
relations of the celestial orbs to the world which 
we inhabit, references to us, as well as to other 
beings, can easily be traced. This mysterious 
ocean of air which envelops the earth, at the 
bottom of which we live, in all its currents, 
changes, adaptations, and never-ceasing opera- 
tions, — the mighty sea of waters, in their varied 
distribution and multiform offices, — the moun- 
tains and rocks, and lands and streams, — the 
trees, and fruits, and flowers, — the night and day, 
the rains and dews, — the seasons and laws of seed- 
time and harvest, — the beasts of the field and the 
birds of the air, — the links of kindred and the ties 
of home, — the relations of the elements, the course 
of things, and the constituents, pursuits, and very 



TWELFTH SUNDAY AFTER TRINITY. 399 

burdens of life, — all are freighted with evidences 
in every part of the great machinery of creation 
that God has thought of us, and never ceases to 
have a very particular regard to us. "Many," 
says the Psalmist, "many, Lord my God, are 
thy wonderful works which Thou hast done, and 
Thy thoughts which are to usward: they cannot 
be reckoned up in order unto Thee. They are 
more than can be numbered." 

And God's thoughts to usward are all benevo- 
lent, — " thoughts of peace and not of evil." 

This we do not always realize. There is so 
much disappointment, disaster, affliction, trial, 
and suffering that we are often doubtful and mis- 
giving. We are in a constant war of good and 
evil, which surges first one way and then another. 
If we have peace one day, we are disturbed the 
next. There is not a rose but in plucking it we 
are pricked with its thorns. Hence we are often 
hurried into very mistaken estimates of the econ- 
omy under which we are placed. Trouble comes 
or adversity overtakes us, and we conclude that 
God is thinking of us other thoughts than thoughts 
of peace. When Jacob finds Joseph gone and 
Benjamin about to be taken, he says, "All these 
things are against me." But it is not so. Even 
these adversities are connected with "thoughts of 
peace and not of evil." Joseph is taken just that 
he might be the instrument of saving Jacob and 
all his house, and that the promises might not 
fail. When Israel was pursued by Pharoah, and 
the strong warriors of Egypt were pressing upon 



400 GRACIOUS THOUGHTS. 

their rear, while the mountains heinmed them in 
on either side, and the Red Sea was in their front, 
they felt as if God had led them there just to de- 
stroy them. But it was not so. It was to destroy 
their adversaries and to vouchsafe to them the 
sublimer salvation. When they were in the wil- 
derness, without food or water, and ready to perish 
of hunger and thirst, they supposed in their an- 
guish that God meant to do them evil, — that His 
thoughts toward them were bitter. But they 
were nevertheless " thoughts of peace," — the pre- 
liminaries of marvellous miracles to save them at 
the last, and to fill them and all the after-church 
of God with joy. When David was being driven 
about in the mountains as a fugitive from the 
powers which thirsted for his blood he thought 
God had ' ' forgotten to be gracious. ' ' But it was 
a mistake, as he himself afterward acknowledged, 
and was glad that he had been afflicted. 

The same mistake is frequently made by peni- 
tents. When the Spirit enters the heart, and 
makes it feel its guiltiness before God, and dis- 
tresses it on account of its sins, and makes it fear 
the wrath it has deserved, it can hardly think 
otherwise than that the Almighty's thoughts are 
thoughts of resentment and severity. But it is 
quite the contrary. The men of Nineveh, in 
sackcloth and ashes, were thinking that God was 
about to destroy them in the very hour that His 
thoughts toward them were peace. When the 
prodigal resolved to return to the parent he had 
wronged he was busy thinking how he should 



TWELFTH SUNDAY AFTER TRINITY. 4OI 

placate that parent's wrath, and taxed all his dis- 
turbed and distressed wits to make out a speech 
of confession and self-abasement to modify the 
supposed anger of his father. But that father 
meanwhile was only thinking how he might wel- 
come the returning sinner, and day by day was 
on the house-top looking for him and making 
ready in his heart for his joyous reception. 

And so, O conscience-stricken one, terrified and 
alarmed at your sinfulness and neglect of your 
Maker: you wonder how He can be otherwise 
than angry with you. You doubt if there can 
be any mercy for you. But while you are thus 
wrestling with your guilt and the imagined wrath 
of God, His thoughts abound in mercy and par- 
doning love. You are thinking Him harsh, un- 
willing to forgive, and requiring to be pleaded 
with and bribed by sacrifices and good works; 
whereas He is full of joy at your willingness to 
accept His forgiveness, and cherishes toward you 
only ' ' thoughts of peace. ' ' 

So in Christian experience and life. You re- 
pent, and yet feel that your penitence is not 
worthy to be called repentance; that everything 
about it is so poor and superficial as to look more 
like mockery than reality. You love God, and 
often have great comfort in thinking of Him; 
but it is so faint and feeble, as compared with 
the warmth of affection and interest toward other 
objects, that you feel as if God could not accept 
such a cold and unworthy devotion. You are so 
dissatisfied with yourself, and ashamed, and full 



402 GRACIOUS THOUGHTS. 

of lamentation, that yon think God cannot think 
of you with favor. But if you are really humble 
and sincere in your sense of your unworthiness, 
God knows your heart and sees your struggles of 
spirit, and might make it otherwise if He would. 
But He sees that it is better for you to be led 
through these depths and conflicts, to try you, 
and prove you, and develop in you the better 
fitness to appreciate and enjoy His mercies at the 
end. 

So too in the performance of religious duty. 
One says, " I go into my closet; and kneel before 
God in secret; I try to pray to Him; but it seems 
only like a waste of time. My mind wanders to 
the ends of the earth; and I come forth feeling 
that it would have been better if I had not made 
the attempt. ' ' Another says, ' ' I went to His 
house with sincere desire to worship with His 
people, and to commune with my Maker; but so 
many cares and trifles came into my thoughts 
that I cannot see how God can be otherwise than 
angry with me." But, my dear Christian friend, 
God knew what took you to your closet; and He 
knew what thoughts brought you up to His house, 
and what thoughts interfered with the perfection 
of your devotions, just as He knew the lamenta- 
tions of David for not being permitted to build 
the temple which he had projected. But as David 
was not rejected because he could not do all that 
he desired, so neither are you because you cannot 
pray and worship as you would like. God said 
to David, u Thou didst well that it was in thy 



TWELFTH SUNDAY AFTER TRINITY. 4O3 

heart. ' ' The poor widow, when she saw the rich 
people of the congregation putting their large 
sums of money into the treasury, doubtless felt 
very meanly of her mites, and lamented that she 
had no more to give. But the Saviour did not 
think her little offering mean. It was all she 
had; and because it was all she had, Jesus said 
it was more than all that those rich ones out of 
their abundance had given. No, no; we are not 
required to do as we would like, but simply as we 
can. And with all our deficiencies and disabili- 
ties, God's thoughts toward us are "thoughts of 
peace, and not of evil." 

And so in other instances. The answers to our 
prayers are often so delayed that we think they 
are wholly unacceptable. The Cyro- Phoenician 
woman goes to the Saviour for her suffering 
daughter, and He does not seem to hear her. 
And when she finally gets a reply, it looks like 
a complete repulse. But, is she therefore to con- 
clude that He is harsh, unfeeling, or angry, and 
unwilling to grant her request? What a mis- 
representation this would have been of the real 
facts. Iyoving thoughts and overflowing benefi- 
cence underlay even that seeming repulse. It 
was only the better to prove her earnestness, to 
call forth more evidently her wondrous faith, that 
He might bless her the more and instruct His 
disciples the better. 

Sometimes we are called to part with the chief 
joy of our hearts. The disciples were told that He 
whom they had taken to be their Redeemer was 



4O4 GRACIOUS THOUGHTS. 

to leave them. Were they therefore to conclude 
that they were to be left comfortless, with all 
their great hopes destroyed ? So they might have 
reasoned, and so they were disposed to reason. 
But it was a great mistake. His thoughts toward 
them were " thoughts of peace, and not of evil." 
He was only going to send another Comforter, to 
prepare a place for them, to come again and take 
them to himself, that where He is they might 
be also. 

In the ordinary course of nature it is appointed 
unto men once to die. We think how the light 
of this world is to fade from our vision, and our 
hearts cease to beat, and the warm blood chill 
and stagnate in our veins, and our bodies be low- 
ered into the grave and buried out of sight. We 
see this occurring every day, and many friends 
being carried ofT. It cuts deep into the soul, 
and we imagine all sorts of sorrowful and hard 
things. We wonder what God can be thinking, 
and whither His redeeming love has gone, that 
He should leave even His own accepted children 
to such bereaving sorrows or so sad a doom. 
But it is not evil that He is thinking. He means 
it well. He would wean us from the things of 
earth to those of a better world. He would purge 
off our dross. He would discipline us for heaven, 
and draw us thither, that we might have the 
better destiny. In what seems the worst still 
His thoughts are beneficent, — "thoughts of peace, 
mid not of evil. ' ' 

The fond parent is sore distressed to see the 



TWELFTH SUNDAY AFTER TRINITY. 405 

dear child taken, and thinks it only evil and 
hard. Why could not this valued treasure have 
been left? Why should this afflictive vacancy 
have been created ? And why should this great 
sorrow have been sent upon a circle so peaceful 
and happy? Dear friends, there was good in it, 
and only good. 

In the Alpine regions, when the shepherd finds 
that the pastures for his flock are failing from the 
valleys below, he takes some lamb in his arms, 
and carries it up to the hills above, that the 
rest of the flock may follow and find plenty for 
their preservation and comfort. And so the great 
Shepherd in heaven. He comes and takes some 
precious lamb in His arms, and carries it up into 
the eternal hills, that the rest of the flock may 
be drawn thither for their everlasting good. His 
thoughts are ' ' thoughts of peace, and not of 
evil." 



Thirteenth Sunday after Trinity. 




Though He slay me, yet will I trust in Him. — Job 13 : 15. 

T is the patriarch Job who here speaks. 
He was a great sufferer. He had been a 
rich man, — rich in sheep, camels, oxen, 
and asses, the sort of property which 
then made up rich men's estates. But all these 
had been wrested from him, — burnt up, or carried 
off beyond recovery. He had a great household 
of servants; but these were smitten with the 
sword, captured, or otherwise destroyed, until 
scarcely one was left. He had seven sons and 
three daughters, all settled and happily situated 
in life, full of comfort in each other, and the par- 
ticular pride of their father. But, in the midst 
of life and its festive enjoyments, a great storm 
struck the house in which they were assembled, 
overthrew it, and killed every child he had. 

Nor was this all. Troubles never come singly. 
Wave upon wave had dashed over him, but other 
and mightier ones came. He was himself stricken 
with sore sickness. An elephantine leprosy seized 
him, and covered him with swellings and ulcera- 
tions, making him a loathing to himself. His 



THIRTEENTH SUNDAY AFTER TRINITY. 407 

friends could no longer recognize him amid the 
distortions of his features, and were so horrified 
at the spectacle he presented when they saw him, 
that they lifted up their voices and wept, rent 
their mantles, and sprinkled themselves with dust. 
And still more to intensify his sufferings his wife 
turned adversary and tempter, and urged him to 
curse God and die, rather than live on in such 
wretchedness. 

And to all this came the harsh and persistent 
accusations of his mistaken friends, who referred 
his distresses to some flagrant guilt, which they 
charged him with hiding in his heart. He knew 
and protested that he was not a hypocrite, and yet 
he was at a loss to understand his case. 

It is a hard thing to be tormented without being 
able to know why. And with all the rest of Job's 
miseries, this inability to unravel the mystery was 
no small part of his distress. One of the intensest 
of his cries was for God to show him wherefore 
He thus contended with him. 

But amid all these intensified sufferings Job 
still spoke of having an adequate Helper in whom 
to trust. His faith was greater than his trouble. 
And even if his sufferings should be intensified, 
doubled, and protracted till life could no longer 
hold out under them, he would still hopefully 
confide in God. 

Satan alleged that Job would give up his relig- 
ion if his riches and prosperity were taken from 
him ; and so the accuser was allowed to afflict 
him. But the result demonstrated that his devo- 



408 PERSISTENT FAITH. 

tion had a deeper foundation than a mere selfish- 
ness which looked only to the enjoyments of a 
prosperous earthly life. Job was a true believer, 
and showed that if deprived even of life itself he 
had faith in the Almighty, and that to Him He 
would cling. 

Nor was this a mere foolish fanaticism. There 
is an Almighty One, who ever lives, and we in 
Him. He is the t,ord of all realms and of all 
things. No hair can drop nor sparrow fall without 
Him. Our hearts beat because He sustains them. 
Life and death, prosperity and adversity are alike 
from Him ; nor can anything be or come to pass 
without Him. Nor is He less the friend, pro- 
tector, and saviour of His believing people amid 
the worst seeming adversities than in the bright- 
est of earthly comforts. However hot the furnaces 
through which He leads them, or extreme the de- 
mands He makes of them, they shall not be the 
losers in the end. Nay, to lose life for His sake 
is the sublimest saving of it. 

Such unfaltering faith in the divine goodness 
amid earthly suffering is not as common, even 
among Christians, as it ought to be. People be- 
lieve in God ; and while things are prosperous 
they think Him good, and readily trust and hope 
in Him. But when long and multiplied adversi- 
ties come, and the soreness of trial and hardship 
is felt, and their days and nights are filled with 
grief and sorrow, they are apt to be fretted, some- 
times even to desperation. Though they have 
more comforts left than Job had, they are prone 



THIRTEENTH SUNDAY AFTER TRINITY. 4O9 

to feel and act as if there were no God, or as if 
He were dead, or had lost His power and gracious- 
ness. And many are so shaken by their trials 
that they fall out with God, and will not believe 
that He cares for them, or that there is any good 
in trusting in Him. 

But God is merciful even to such, and it is not 
right for us to blame them too harshly. Human 
nature is weak. Faith has some hard battles to 
fight. And things often come to such a pass that 
we are greatly at a loss to know what to make of 
them. God's footsteps are in the sea. Many are 
the occasions on which He seems to hide himself. 
Expectations are disappointed or reversed ; earn- 
est prayers are not answered ; our thinking is 
baffled and confounded ; matters take on a contra- 
riness that seems to throw everything out of gear; 
and we wonder what possible good is in it. It is 
easy enough to be pious when all runs smoothly. 
But when clouds and tempests come, and dark- 
ness takes the place of light, and the dealings of 
God give us pain, and the sword at every step 
is made to pierce our bosom, and everything in 
the world seems turned against us, then to be con- 
fident in the Lord demands an amount of grace 
and faith not so easy of attainment. 

And yet such a victorious confidence is possible. 
It was shown in Job, and should be aimed at by 
us. His adversities were intense and many ; but 
they could not dislodge nor even shake his stead- 
fast trust in God. His wealth gone ; his children 
gone ; his health gone ; his wife turned against 



4IO PERSISTENT FAITH. 

him ; his best friends condemning him as a wicked 
dissembler ; and with seemingly nothing left to 
him but a miserable death and a clouded fame, he 
successfully held on to his faith in the love and 
justice of God, and cried his victory over every 
doubt. From the lowest depths of his sufferings 
came the word of triumph, " Though He slay me, 
yet will I trust in Him. ' ' 

Job did not come to this rare and high attain- 
ment all at once. He was a man of like passions 
with us, and had to be taken through many sharp 
contentions and anxious exercises of soul to be- 
come such an exemplary believer. Nor was it 
without many a faulty word and passion that he 
came to the full victory of faith. At first he 
thought himself better than he was. It required 
the severity of his trials to reveal to him his de- 
fects, and to bring him to patient waiting upon 
God. But he was loyal in the centre of his being, 
even when speaking unadvisedly with his lips ; 
and this it was that finally brought him through 
as a grand example of confiding patience under 
the worst adversities. 

Faith and trust in God cannot unmake grief and 
sorrow, nor render suffering and death attractive 
and beautiful. Even the spotless Son of God had 
His pains and distresses of both soul and body ; 
and His followers cannot hope for exemption. 
The thorns will pierce and sore trials will come. 
Flesh and blood will be made to smart. But 
where the soul is stayed on God, faith has won- 
derful power to buoy up the spirits, to reconcile 



THIRTEENTH SUNDAY AFTER TRINITY. 4 1 I 

us to our lot, and to steady the soul. It looks 
through the clouds. It is not vanquished by the 
darkness it cannot penetrate. It furnishes an 
anchor of hope both sure and steadfast, which 
links the believer to the continent of eternal 
glory. 

And a grand example for our encouragement 
and imitation is here. To fret and vex ourselves 
because things go badly with us is not the way to 
master troubles, nor to help us when they come. 
We may not be able to see through them, but 
God does, and stands pledged to make all things 
work together for good to them that love Him. 
The great matter is to hold on, hold in, and hold 
out, as Job did, sure that the end will abundantly 
justify all the ways of God and restore unto us 
double of all that we have suffered. Lazarus was 
not the loser by reason of his poverty and sores ; 
and Job became all the more renowned and glori- 
ous because no sufferings could dislodge him from 
his trust in the Almighty. Therefore, faint soul, 
hold on ; hold in ; hold out. 



a ©teat (Elite. 

Fourtee?ith Su?iday after Trinity. 



And his flesh came again like unto the flesh of a little child, and 
he was clean. — 2 Kings 5 : 14. 

^/V^J VERY distinguished personage, as the 
TO© world counts greatness, here comes be- 
few ^ ore us ' ^ e was ^ e comman( ier-in- 
^M*^i chief of the Syrian army, — "a great 
man with his master, and honorable." He was 
rich, he was high in office, and he was held in 
eminent esteem. Next to the king himself, there 
was perhaps no man in the realm of whom so 
much account was taken, or on whom so much 
confidence reposed. 

But, with all his dignity and honor, there was 
one great drawback to his estate, comfort, and 
hopes; and one which tended to vitiate every- 
thing else. The record says he was a leper. 
He had become the victim of a loathsome and in- 
curable disease, regarded with intense abhorrence 
wherever it is found. A leper was usually held 
to be as good as dead. And with this disease this 
great Syrian general was attacked, sealing to him 
a life of suffering and humiliation, and a wretched 
death, if not in some way cured, as few have ever 
been. 

412 



FOURTEENTH SUNDAY AFTER TRINITY. 413 

But how was he to be cured ? The trouble was 
constitutional, and had become so much a part 
of himself that no skill of physicians or power 
of earthly remedies could reach it, or separate 
between him and the detested affection. From 
all that he or his friends knew, and according to 
the common experience of ages, his case was 
hopeless. 

And yet there was cure for him. It was not 
in Syria. It was not to be found anywhere in 
heathendom. But it existed. In all periods of 
the Church, God has lodged with His people 
certain "gifts of healing." Among these powers 
was also that of curing the leprosy. Christ exer- 
cised this power in various instances during His 
earthly ministry; and the same was done by sun- 
dry of the prophets who preceded Him. There 
was also a prophet, contemporary with this great 
Syrian, who stood in such relations to God that 
he had it in his power to work miracles, and thus 
to cure leprosy. He was a man of note in his 
own country, but quite unknown to Naaman, 
until his attention was drawn to him by what 
some might call a mere accident; but what men 
call accidents are all matters of divine providence. 

It was but a short time before that the Syrians 
had made war upon Israel, and carried off many 
prisoners, great and small, whom they had sold 
into slavery. Among these was a little Hebrew 
girl, who had been purchased by this Syrian gen- 
eral as a waiting-maid for his wife. Having be- 
come interested in the family, and acquainted 



4 14 A GREAT CURE. 

with Naaman's trouble, she one day happened to 
say to her mistress that she wished her lord could 
be with the prophet that was in Samaria, as he 
would recover him from his leprosy. Uncon- 
sciously to herself, she thus became a preacher 
of salvation to that home. Her words were re- 
ported to her lord, and thence to the king, and a 
state expedition was instituted to go over into 
Palestine to secure the aid of the prophet in 
relieving Naaman of his disease. 

It is a blessed thing when children are early 
taught in matters of religion, so that they may 
anywhere and always be prepared to give informa- 
tion and light upon the facts and truths relating 
to grace and salvation. In this instance a little 
servant girl thus became a veritable prophetess to 
the great house of Syria's greatest general. Nor 
does it require much genius, eloquence, or scholar- 
ship to be an effectual bearer of the tidings of 
divine grace. What is most needed is simply a 
clear knowledge and confident persuasion of the 
facts, and a good, benevolent, and sympathetic 
heart to tell them. Damascus doubtless had men 
of eminent attainments, genius, eloquence, and 
wisdom; but they and their great abilities were 
mere ciphers and puerilities by the side of the 
few simple words of this little female slave, so 
far as regarded the helping of her lord to get rid 
of his leprosy. In her humble station and fem- 
inine childhood she was worth more than a thou- 
sand scientists and facile orators in such a case, 
because she knew where the healing power could 



FOURTEENTH SUNDAY AFTER TRINITY. 415 

be found, though she only talked it in her juve- 
nile innocence. 

But in proposing to avail himself of what his 
little maid had told, Naaman made some serious 
mistakes, such as need to be avoided if we would 
profit by divine grace. His great consequence 
was much" in his way and disabled his efforts at 
every step until he was brought to give up all his 
assumed loftiness. Had he taken the suggestions 
as given by the little prophetess all would have 
been right ; but he was too great a man to be con- 
tent with such straightforward simplicity. He 
must have things arranged to suit his style and 
state. He was told, Go to the prophet in Sama- 
ria ; but what had a great man like him to do 
with one so low in rank and obscure in position ? 
Naaman was the man to do with kings and the 
highest authorities. He would apply to his sov- 
ereign and get royal letters wherewith to come to 
the king of Israel. Nor would he go empty- 
handed. He would go in state and loaded with 
treasures of state. Gold and silver, to the amount 
of fifty thousand dollars, besides ten changes of 
costly raiment, he took with him as a grand back- 
sheesh. And thus in style, as a royal ambassador, 
he made his way to the king of Israel, thinking 
that this was what became his dignity and high 
estate. 

But the grace of God was not at the command 
nor within the reach of such a spirit. People 
who thus exalt themselves are bound to be hum- 
bled. His roval letters did not avail. When the 



416 A GREAT CURE. 

King of Israel read them he was astounded and 
indignant. He rent his clothes, denounced the 
proceeding as a conspiracy to bring about war, 
and exclaimed, Am I God, that I should recover 
a man from his leprosy ! So the grand presenta- 
tion proved a total failure, all because Naaman 
took his own self-consequential way for it, instead 
of following the suggestion of the little maid to 
go to the prophet in Samaria. 

But even when it was made evident that he 
must go to the prophet, the same spirit which 
prevented his success in the first instance again 
proved a vexatious hindrance. Disappointed and 
humiliated that he could not get the prophet's 
services through royal command, and obliged to 
go to the humble man whom he thought to make 
come to him, it was in no very amiable mood that 
he directed his cortege to the house of Elisha. 

When he reached the prophet's dwelling he did 
not condescend to dismount. His dignity and 
self-importance would not allow him to do that. 
He merely sent word in to Klisha to come out to 
him, expecting that he would recognize and honor 
the great Naaman, and go through a round of 
ceremonial pow-wowing with due regard to the 
importance of his patient. But Klisha did not 
know his lordship, or rather knew him too well 
to pamper his pride or to think of the giving of 
divine grace where such a temper held sway. He 
would not so much as make his appearance. He 
simply sent a servant to tell the great man to go 
wash himself seven times in the river Jordan and 



FOURTEENTH SUNDAY- AFTER TRINITY. 417 

his leprosy would be cleansed. Naaman took this 
as an insult to his dignity and his government, 
and drove off in a great rage, resentfully berating 
the prophet for his disrespect and lack of good 
manners. But it was of no use ; he had to pocket 
the insult, as he regarded it, and come down to 
do according to the prophet's word or keep his 
leprosy. 

And here again the proud Syrian was made the 
pupil of a servant. A little servant girl told him 
where to go ; a servant of Elisha told him what to 
do ; and now a servant of his own became his ex- 
horter and teacher, to expostulate with him in 
regard to his unreasonable passion and bring him 
to his right mind. The whole thing was simple 
and easy enough from the beginning. It needed 
neither kings, nor gold, nor costly apparel, nor 
ceremonial manipulation. It would have been 
enough to go in humble quiet to the prophet, to 
entreat his help and to do as directed. As it was, 
the prophet had not bidden him to do any great 
thing. It was no harsh or painful matter to go 
wash in Jordan. The river was near at hand. 
Pharpar and Abana, rivers of Damascus, were in- 
deed much more beautiful and attractive than all 
the waters of Israel ; but that was not the ques- 
tion. He needed to go where the cure was to be 
found, and not simply to the waters most pleasing 
to the eye. Effective remedies seldom are pala- 
table. When people want favors it will not do to 
pique themselves on their taste. The prophet's 
word, not Naaman' s pride, was to govern in this 

27 



41 8 A GREAT CURE. 

case. But the prophet's word did not please his 
excellency. Some great thing he would have 
done willingly ; but when it was said, Go wash in 
Jordan, his dignity was offended and his impor- 
tance was insulted. 

God is no respecter of persons, and in matters 
of grace and salvation the high must come down 
to the same plain with the low. There are no 
favors nor immunities for princes and patricians 
above those of plebeians and servants. And if 
people will not take divine help and cure as God 
proposes to impart it, they may gratify their self- 
consequence, conceit, and passion, but they cannot 
have his healing and saving favors. 

The reason why the man was so crossed in his 
ideas and preferences is plain enough. He needed 
to learn that in these matters of grace he must 
obey, and not command. God does not give that 
which is holy to dogs, nor cast his pearls before 
swine. The treasures of His grace are too precious 
to be bestowed indiscriminately where there is no 
proper appreciation of them, — no humbling of 
ourselves to receive them. People must be will- 
ing to come down to God's terms, or they are not 
worthy of His favors, and cannot have them. 
They must learn to submit their will to His, and 
do as He directs, or they must remain in their 
sins. 

The expostulations and sound reasonings of 
Naaman's servant succeeded in subduing his 
proud petulance, and in inducing him to make 
honest trial of the prophet's directions. Repent- 



FOURTEENTH SUNDAY AFTER TRINITY. 419 

ing of liis impatient rage, he went down to the 
Jordan and washed as he was told. 

Even the seven times in which he was to wash 
had an important spiritual bearing. So far as the 
washing was concerned, once would have done, 
or it might have been dispensed with altogether; 
but then there would have been no test of the 
man's faith, and no such proof of his humble 
and persistent obedience. The washing was 
necessary, and the seven times were necessary, 
that his dutifulness might be adequately shown. 
There was doubt whether he had faith and self- 
humiliation enough to wash at all, as the prophet 
bade him ; and that doubt had to be removed by 
actual compliance. Having washed once, there 
was still a doubt whether he was sufficiently made 
up to persevere in the duty prescribed. As no 
signs of cure appeared in the first, second, third, 
fourth, fifth, and sixth washing, it was a question 
whether he would not become disgusted with the 
performance, and give up in unbelief of any favor- 
able result. He therefore needed to be tried to 
the full extent of the seven times. Being faithful 
and obedient to the seventh washing, it was evi- 
dent that the spirit of faithful obedience was in 
him, that he had really mastered his pride, and 
that he had become a willing subject of the divine 
word. So then the desired cure was reached, and 
"his flesh came again like unto the flesh of a 
little child, and he was clean." 

And what blessed instruction there is in all this 
for us ! We are all spiritual lepers. We belong 



420 A GREAT CURE. 

to an infected race. There is upon us a filthiness 
of the flesh and of the spirit. The taint is upon 
us from our parentage. It is in our blood and 
pervades our whole being. In some it is more 
alarmingly developed than in others; but it is in 
all of us, and we must needs die of it, if it be not 
counteracted and overcome by divine power and 
grace. Happily there is a prophet in Israel who 
can recover us from our leprosy. The servant- 
maid, the Church, has made us acquainted with 
His saving power. For years and years she has 
been saying to us, ' ' Would God ye were with the 
Prophet ! for He would recover you from your 
leprosy. " What the treasures of empires cannot 
purchase is at hand. There is not a man or 
woman living that needs to perish. The fountain 
flows for the washing away of sin and unclean- 
ness. No great thing is required to be done. All 
that any sin-stricken soul needs is humbly to ac- 
cept and obey the prophetic word, — to give up 
all idea of merit or good deserving, and try for 
deliverance in the way prescribed. 

The word to Naaman was, "Wash and be 
clean ; " he washed, and he was clean. And when 
it is said to us, Repent, and be baptized, every 
one of you, in the name of the L,ord Jesus, that 
your sins may be blotted out; why should we 
stagger at the simplicity and easiness of the re- 
quirement? Ready to do some great thing, should 
we not the rather be obedient when it is said to 
us, Wash and be clean? Alas, that when the 
Jordan is at hand with its cleansing flood, people 



FOURTEENTH SUNDAY AFTER TRINITY. 42 1 

will be thinking of their own Abana or Pharpar, 
where no healing is ! that some who feel and 
know that the deadly ailment of sin is upon 
them, are yet willing to run the awful risk of 
never being cleansed at all, if they cannot have 
it in the way of their own choosing ! To all 
such the case of the Syrian leper speaks with 
impressive power. To all such the pointed ex- 
postulation of his servant applies with unspeak- 
able point: v 'If the prophet had bid thee do 
some great thing, wouldst thou not have done 
it? how much rather then when he saith to 
thee Wash and be clean?" 

You may say that ceremonies and outward for- 
malities are nothing; but would Naaman have 
been healed if he had not gone down and washed 
himself seven times in Jordan, according to the 
saying of the Man of God? Then how can we 
hope to be cleansed of our more fearful malady 
without humble and obedient submission to God's 
appointed ordinances? Hath not the Saviour said, 
Except ye humble yourselves, and become as 
little children, — submissive, meek and obedient, 
— ye shall not enter into the kingdom of heaven? 



jfutilitg of a JBibiirrtr Serb to. 

Fifteenth Sunday after Trinity. 






No man can serve two masters ; for either he will hate the one, 
and love the other ; or else he will hold to the one, and despise the 
other. Ye cannot serve God and Mammon. — Matt. 6 : 24. 

ijAMMON means riches, — not simply 
money, lands, and stocks; but whatever 
is sought and treasured as good fortune 
in the things of this world. Everything 
or anything that is an object of desire, pursuit, 
and trust to people of worldly mind and selfish 
ambition, is Mammon. It includes wealth, power, 
honor, fame, business, pleasures, gayeties, amuse- 
ments, and whatever of earthly good or enjoyment 
people set their hearts on, or exalt into the room 
of God, whether it be riches, station, place, or 
anything else. 

As to the other Master spoken of, most people 
feel and agree that God ought to be honored and 
served. Even atheists and unbelievers readily 
concede that, if there be a God, no devotion is 
too much for us to render Him, and no pious 
obedience can go beyond what is His righteous 
due. Any child of sin and Satan, in his serious 
and sober moments, will agree that it is right 

422 



FIFTEENTH SUNDAY AFTER TRINITY. 423 

to serve God, and fault himself that he has not 
been more dutiful in this respect. The com- 
mon conviction is clear enough that as truly as 
God is God, in whom we live and move and have 
our being, we should honor and serve Him; and 
few fail to do some things in the line of what all 
feel to be the righteous and indefeasible obliga- 
tion of every one. 

But while this is true, the human heart is prone 
to give chief attention and energy to another Mas- 
ter. To the natural man, Mammon has wonderful 
charms and commands many ardent worshippers. 
And there is much that makes it seem reasonable. 
In a world like this there is strong call to be con- 
cerned about what tends to make life easy and 
pleasant. We must live. We must have food 
and shelter, and provisions for those dependent 
upon us. Many desirable things present them- 
selves, and invite our efforts to secure them. 
Riches, honors and place, promise to add so much 
to the convenience, comfort, zest, and joy of life, 
that it seems like a wrong against ourselves to be 
indifferent to them. Thus multitudes are drawn 
and captivated, and feel that some concession 
must be made to Mammon. They are not ob- 
livious to the fact that there is a higher good 
than the most favored estate on earth. They 
fully consent that an outward life of ease, com- 
fort, distinction, or wealth is not the chief thing 
for the soul. They do not for a moment dispute 
that all earthly good is evanescent, and must 
presently fail those who have it, — that nothing 



424 FUTILITY OF A DIVIDED SERVICE. 

is more uncertain, perishable, and unsatisfying 
than what worldlings most value and strive for. 
They know every earthly possession is liable to 
failure at any time, and at best will have to be 
given up after a few years. They know full well 
that every dollar one wins here he must presently 
lay down and leave forever. Mammon is perish- 
able, and cannot help when the ultimate test 
comes. Yet multitudes are infatuated; and Mam- 
mon, after all, gets marvellous credit; while many 
who would fain count themselves the children of 
God, are deep in the service of this captivating 
idol. 

Hence that remarkable manifestation of life and 
character to which the , Saviour here refers ; that 
is, the attempt to reconcile the service of God with 
the worship of Mammon, — the endeavor to gain 
this world without losing the blessedness of the 
next. They cannot honestly renounce the claims 
of God and the soul, and yet feel that they cannot 
be fair to themselves without trying to win and 
enjoy as much of this world as possible. They 
readily admit that it is right, necessary, and good 
to serve God, and that to live only for the indul- 
gence of their carnal aims and desire is very un- 
worthy and wrong ; but they cannot give up the 
world. And so they hover between the two, and 
think to meet the case by conceding something to 
both, and pursuing a fancied mean between them 
by which to quiet their consciences, and yet 
gratify their worldly desires and covetous fancies. 
Many are the instances of this. 



FIFTEENTH SUNDAY AFTER TRINITY. 425 

That some should wish for such a compromise, 
and try to have it realized, is easily understood. 
Arouse a man's religious feelings and convictions 
which are not yet strong enough to control his 
heart and life, and you have all that is necessary 
to start him on the attempt which I have described. 
Like Herod, he will do many things in the line 
of religion and goodness, while yet there is no full 
surrender of his soul to God and righteousness. 
But how any one can think to make a success of 
it, and come out safe in the end, is a puzzle. It 
is as plain as that two and two make four that two 
things so essentially discordant as a life of genu- 
ine piety and a life of worldly conformity cannot 
possibly be harmonized. And here stand the 
words of the Saviour : " Ye cannot serve God and 
Mammon. ' ' 

It is sometimes wise and proper to be neutral. 
There may be feuds, dissensions, and controver- 
sies in which it is well to refrain from taking 
sides. But it cannot be so in the matter between 
the service of God and the service of Mammon. 
The one is so radically at variance with the other 
that there is no middle ground, and no possibility 
of standing with both. We must be on the one 
side or the other. Not to take a positive stand 
for God and heaven throws us where there is no 
other standing-room but with those who have 
Mammon for their god. It matters not for good 
words, pious intentions, and half-way doings ; if 
the heart be not made up, fixed, and settled to 
know no lord but God, — no rule or aim of life but 



426 FUTILITY OF A DIVIDED SERVICE. 

the doing of His will, our place is with the Mam- 
monites. 

It is not meant indeed that we are to tear our- 
selves away from the ordinary associations, attach- 
ments, and pursuits of life ; or that we dare not 
eat, and drink, and clothe ourselves becomingly. 
It does not mean that we are never to laugh nor 
allow ourselves the enjoyment of whatever good 
of this world our merciful Father in heaven may 
award us. He has made us human beings, and 
put us here with certain needs, adaptations, ca- 
pacities, instincts, and relationships ; and He 
means that we should be true men and women, 
and live and handle ourselves as such. We are 
not required to abjure all attention to the things 
of time. That would be to fault and contradict, 
not to serve Him. But we are to order ourselves 
in these earthly spheres, necessities, and sur- 
roundings, so as not to forget God, not to pervert 
His gifts, but so to direct and use our powers that 
we may fulfill the purposes of our creation and 
do honor to His Name. We may value wealth, 
and labor for it, and enjoy it ; but must remember 
that it is the Lord's, and that we are responsible 
to Him for the use we make of it. W T e may share 
the pleasures of society and a cheerful life ; but 
must hold them subservient to the higher aims and 
purposes of our being. We may have respect to 
honor, influence, gain, and fame, and have them 
before us in our efforts ; but not so as to make 
them the sole spring of our industry and activi- 
ties, or to treat them as the true goal and end of 



FIFTEENTH SUNDAY AFTER TRINITY. 42/ 

our existence. We may be alive to the attrac- 
tions of the world God has given us and respond 
to them ; but not so as to waste ourselves upon 
them. 

But the danger is not that we will have too 
little regard for the gains, possessions, pleasures, 
and honors of this world. There is a perverted 
nature in all of us, and it is sure to show itself 
unduly absorbed with what is only earthly and 
temporal to the neglect of the heavenly and 
eternal. Few people live over whom Mammon 
does not have an immense influence, even where 
the will is for something better. We all have 
need to struggle against its seductive power, — 
against the temptation to bestow undue affection 
upon earthly good, and to grieve and pine when 
we have it not in the measure we would like. It 
is a trying thing to human nature to be poor ; yet 
it is better to live in want and die of starvation, 
peacefully submitting ourselves to the divine will, 
than to revel in the riches of Dives and fare as he 
did when death comes. The great matter is to be 
dutifully and confidingly enlisted under the stand- 
ard of the King of kings and Lord of lords, seek- 
ing first, and above all, the Kingdom of God and 
His righteousness. 

It is no hardship that the blessed Saviour would 
thus lay upon us, but rather to furnish us a sub- 
lime and peaceful deliverance. From an absorb- 
ing and bootless love of the world which never 
can satisfy, — from torturing and consuming anxi- 
eties about what we shall eat, drink, and put on, — 



428 FUTILITY OF A DIVIDED SERVICE. 

from all vexatious cares that have no higher aims 
and ends than earthly fortune, — from slavery to 
greed, and self, and appetite, and perishable pleas- 
ure and gains in this world, — He would have us 
happily detached and delivered by a dutiful trust 
in Him who feeds the birds and clothes the lilies. 
There is something sweeter than selfish lust, — 
sweeter than this world's gains, — sweeter and 
more precious than all the treasures of Egypt. It 
is the sweetness of freedom from carking cares and 
anxieties about what must perish in the using, — 
the sweetness of having all things in God who 
careth for us, and rest in Him" who knoweth what 
we have need of before we ask Him, and stands 
pledged to bring us safely through all trials, and 
make everything work to the eternal good of them 
that love Him. 

Mammon, at best, can do but little for us. 
Mammon cannot give us a single good that we 
can carry with us into eternity. Not a pleasure, 
not a possession can it give its devotees that they 
can take with them when they come to die. 
Mammon can make misers and shrivel our nature 
into a miserable selfishness. Mammon can make 
us proud, heartless, and tyrannical, but renders us 
utterly destitute for the world to come. Mammon 
may make men feel as if they were little gods for 
every one to worship, but cannot ease a pain, heal 
a sickness, cure a fever, or enable one to live one 
moment longer. Mammon may greatly flatter its 
devotees, but is apt to plant thorns in their dying 
pillows, and leave the soul distressed and hopeless 



FIFTEENTH SUNDAY AFTER TRINITY. 429 

in the final agony. Mammon may give a man 
great influence for the time, and bring around him 
many sycophantic friends, and secure him an 
elegant home, a fine funeral, and a showy tomb ; 
but it cannot make him more genuinely respected, 
or secure for him favor in heaven. 

Dear friends, there should be no trouble about 
what to choose in such a case as this. In the 
Church, or out of it, spiritual misfortune, disap- 
pointment, and eternal ruin must come of per- 
sistence in the worship of Mammon; and people 
only deceive themselves by thinking to serve 
both God and Mammon. Jesus says it cannot 
be. There is, then, but one alternative, — but one 
hope; and that is, to give our hearts' devotion to 
the only true and saving Lord, who stands before 
us and says, "If any man serve Me, him will 
my Father honor." There is no sublimer Mas- 
ter, — no worthier or nobler service, — no surer 
way to happiness and eternal blessedness. And 
if we would make a choice never to be regretted, 
here is our opportunity and now is the time. It 
will not do to say — "After a while," — "time 
enough yet," — "when earthly cares are less press- 
ing," — the word from heaven says, " Now is the 
accepted time, — Now is the day of salvation," — 
4 ' Choose you this day whom ye will serve. ' ' God 
help us each and all to the right decision, and 
give us grace to stand to it faithfully to the end ! 



& jStaniung proclamation. 

Sixteenth Sunday after Trinity. 




Him that cometh to Me I will in no wise cast out. — Jno. 6 : 37. 

"N this promise many now singing the 
song of Moses and the Lamb once hung 
their fainting spirits, and it carried them 
safely through guilt, through tempta- 
tion, through death. So says a great American 
preacher. And it is the same to-day that it ever 
was. Its freedom is not restrained, its grace is 
not diminished, its Giver's power is not abridged. 
It stands now, for every soul to take hold on, as 
true, as gracious, as firm, and as transcendant as 
when it first came from the lips of Jesus. O 
that He, with whom is the residue of the Spirit, 
would shed forth His light upon it, and upon our 
hearts, as we contemplate it ! 

I. See here a word of explanation of what true 
Christianity is. The text shows us the Christ, 
stationed in the midst of a world of homeless and 
needy ones, as the centre and source of ample 
supplies and consolations for all, claiming to be 
both able and willing to bestow them on every 

4. HO 



SIXTEENTH SUNDAY AFTER TRINITY. 43 I 

one. And what is this but the very heart of the 
Gospel ? 

The centre of Christianity is Christ. He is its 
beginning, middle, and end. Everything belong- 
ing to it groups about Him. In its object and its 
subject. He is the All and in all. What the sun 
is to the planetary system, Christ is to the system 
of salvation. He carries all, sustains all, vivifies 
all ; and without Him it is nothing. In our faith, 
in our hopes, in our prayers, in our songs, in our 
aims, in our desires, in our emotions, and in all 
our thoughts and experiences as Christians, He is 
the Alpha and the Omega. The best sermons, 
the best hymns, the best Liturgies, the best lives, 
are those which have in them the most of Christ. 
Everything objective in Christianity centres in 
Christ. Coming to Him comprehends all. Com- 
ing to Him we believe and confess Him, put our 
trust in Him, and consent to give Him our hearts. 
Coming to Christ means faith, repentance, and 
conversion. It means prayer, baptism, righteous- 
ness, sanctification, and redemption. Coming to 
Christ we become Christians, and find place among 
the saved. 

II. See here a word of blessed encowagement to 
the troubled and anxious. It says to every weary 
and heavy-laden sinner, ' ' The Master is come, 
and calleth for thee." He has come, not in the 
terrors of justice to arraign and condemn; but 
meek, and having salvation. The word is, 
"Come unto me, and I will give you rest." It 



432 A STANDING PROCLAMATION. 

matters not for blood or nationality. It matters 
not for condition, rank, or standing in the world. 
It matters not for age or condition in life. It 
matters not for the depth of guilt, the time wasted 
in sin, the number or the turpitude of offences. 
It may be a Manassah, who filled the streets of 
Jerusalem with blood ; — it may be a Mary Magda- 
lene, driven and tossed with seven devils ; — it may 
be a Saul, whose very breath was slaughter and 
havoc to God's saints ; — it may be the thief in the 
last extremity of suffering for his crimes ; — it may 
be the man who swung the lash that lacerated the 
back of the Son of God ; — it may be the soldier 
that drove the nails into his hands and feet, or 
thrust the spear into His side ; — it may be the 
lowest and the worst of Adam's children — no 
matter, any one that cometh to Him He will 
in no wise cast out. The word is absolute and 
without limit. No one is outside of its range. 
Whosoever will may come, and he that cometh 
shall not be rejected. The declaration in the 
original has a double negative, making the lan- 
guage the strongest possible, that Jesus will 7iot 
cast out any one who comes to Him. 

And what He spoke with His lips is illustrated 
and confirmed in His history and providence. 
There is no case in any records of a sinner come 
to Him who met with repulse and rejection. In 
all His career on earth we see His tender willing- 
ness and delight to raise up trophies of His grace, 
albeit from among the chief of sinners — from, 
among persecutors and blasphemers — from among 



SIXTEENTH SUNDAY AFTER TRINITY. 433 

publicans and harlots — even to the shamed thing 
dragged before Him in the temple. In no age, in 
no land, under no circumstances did the L,ord of 
glory ever spurn from Him an humble sinner 
fallen at His feet to plead for His forgiveness. 
And if anything is true of Him, this is true, that 
whosoever cometh to Him He is willing and 
ready to receive, and help, and welcome. 

Precious assurance ! Hear it, ye people of oft- 
repeated and oft-broken vows, whose promises lie 
on God's altar unredeemed, whose solemn cove- 
nants and pledges lie strewn in shattered frag- 
ments all along your path. Hear it, ye souls 
bowed down with chagrin and torment at contem- 
plation of your unmanliness and guilt. L,et go 
all further trust in self, and put your unworthy 
hands in Christ's to walk as little children by His 
side. For He hath sympathy for you ; and whoso- 
ever cometh unto Him He will in no wise cast out. 

III. See here a word of pregnant promise. If 
Jesus will not cast out the soul that comes to Him, 
the implication is that He will receive it ; and, 
being received, it must needs have a home and 
fellowship with Him. Coming to Christ with the 
continuity which the word implies means no more 
separation. Coming to Him, we become His, and 
He becomes ours, and there is a joining from both 
sides into an everlasting unity of fellowship, in- 
terest, fortune, and destiny. What is His becomes 
ours, and what is ours becomes His. His unfail- 
ing righteousness becomes our righteousness ; His 



434 A STANDING PROCLAMATION. 

merit our plea ; His victory our victory ; His 
spirit our spirit ; His kingdom our kingdom ; His 
Father our Father ; His home our home. In all 
respects, where He is there shall we be also ; for 
we thus become joint-heirs with Him to eternal 
glory. 

We can conceive of many things from which 
Christ might cast us out. He might cast us out 
from His pity, His forbearance, His compassion, 
and His love. He might cast us out from the 
benefits of His mediation, from His forgiveness, 
from the influences of His Spirit, from the aid 
of His intercessions, and from all the consolations 
of His grace. He might cast us out from His 
Kingdom, from part in the resurrection of the 
just, from His friendly recognition in the day 
of judgment, and from the joys of heaven. And 
from all these must those be severed who come 
not to Him. But from the dreadfulness of such 
calamity we may read the blessedness of those 
whom He will not cast out. His love, tender- 
ness, and compassion for them shall never cease. 
His mediation, His grace, His forgiveness, His 
righteousness, His Spirit, and His intercessions 
ever avail for them. All the power, and the 
riches, and the dominion, and the glory, and the 
triumph over death and hell, and the immortal 
empire awarded Him by the Father they shall 
share. i\nd as He liveth and reigneth in glory 
without end, so shall they live and shine amid 
the thrones and princedoms of eternity, as His 
imperishable stars. 



SIXTEENTH SUNDAY AFTER TRINITY. 435 

What shall we say, then, to these things ! The 
Christ is here. The redemption He proposes is 
itself the evidence that we need it. And to all 
the bruised, mutilated, disabled, faint, and de- 
spairing souls that lie scattered, and groaning, 
and helpless all over the surface of the world, His 
sympathetic and compassionate word is, " Him 
that cometh to Me, I will in no wise cast out. ' ' 
Nor can we do a better or a wiser thing than to 
avail ourselves of such a Patron. No greater 
honor can come to man than to be joined to such 
a Prince and Saviour. No sublimer happiness 
can we ever hope to reach than that of identifica- 
tion with the status, glory, and destiny of the 
Heir of all things. 

Dear friends, we often doubt and wonder, can 
the Saviour really be so good as to receive and 
welcome creatures so faulty as we ? With all our 
many errands to His house, His altar, and His 
throne, imploring to be numbered with His saints, 
and with all our longing and wrestling to secure 
His great salvation, doubts and shadows often 
come over the soul, and we question if we may 
hope to be among the saved. Nor am I surprised 
that faith itself should sometimes stagger when 
we contemplate our unworthiness. But if Christ 
will cast out none who come to Him, why should 
we fear? If no weaknesses, no stubborn roots of 
remaining earthiness, no defects, no infirmities, 
no sinfulness in the past, can bar the way to His 
favor, why need we despair? If the worn-out 
slaves of sin and Satan may have redemption 



436 A STANDING PROCLAMATION. 

through His blood, shall not His own children, 
hungering for His grace, be allowed to count 
themselves among His saved ones? If the fraudu- 
lent Zaccheus could find salvation, and the thief, 
dying for his crimes, could have the doors of 
Paradise opened to receive his departing soul, and 
the persecuting Saul of Tarsus could obtain for- 
giveness, and be accepted as a child and apostle 
of God for whom is reserved an eternal crown of 
righteousness, why may not the Marys that sit at 
His feet, and the Johns that lean on His bosom, 
and the Peters that stand up for His defence, hope 
to be welcomed on the same terms to the same 
transcendent blessedness? 

And though we may yet have many corruptions 
to subdue, and many trials to endure, and many, 
temptations to overcome, and many antagonisms 
to resist, rendering many more errands to the 
throne of grace necessary in order to a final tri- 
umph, we still may come without let or hindrance, 
and find shelter in the Rock that is higher than 
we. And even if we have been faithless to our 
calling, dishonored our profession, denied our 
Lord, and grieved His loving heart by mortal sin, 
the doors of mercy are still wide open to us, and 
the tender voice of invitation is, "Return, ye 
backsliding children, and I will heal you." 
Through the tears of ingenuous shame we still 
may see forgiveness in His grieved and gentle look, 
and be sure that He would have us take hold 
again upon His everlasting covenant. For who- 
soever cometh to Him He will in no wise cast out. 



SIXTEENTH SUNDAY AFTER TRINITY. 437 

Ye dying sons of men, 

Immersed in sin and woe, 
The Gospel voice attend, 

Which Jesus sends to you : 
Ye perishing and guilty, come, 
In Jesus there is plenteous room. 

Believe the heavenly Word 

His messengers proclaim ; 
He is a gracious Lord, 

And faithful is His Name. 
Backsliding souls, return and come ; 
Cast off despair, in Christ there's room. 



ISotrtrirttons upon ti>e WLxtstltx. 

Seventeenth Sunday after Trinity. 




I will be as the dew unto Israel : he shall grow as the lily, and 
cast forth his roots as Lebanon. His branches shall spread ; and his 
beauty shall be as the olive tree, and his smell as Lebanon. — Hosea 
14:5,6. 

SRAKL was the name given to Jacob 
when he wrestled with the Jehovah- 
Angel, and conquered to himself the 
divine blessing. It is a name which 
primarily refers to spiritual qualities. It describes 
the characteristics of those who succeed in their 
endeavors to secure the divine favor. He who 
wrestles to win the grace and benediction of 
God, and perseveres in his efforts until he pre- 
vails, is a true Israel. 

It is a name which describes every Christian, 
for Christian life is the struggle to secure and re- 
tain the divine favor and blessing. There is 
deadly wrath against us by reason of our sins, and 
we are exiled now. The goal of our existence is 
to get back into reconciliation and peace. For 
this also every right man longs, and prays, and 
wrestles, as did Jacob. Knowing and feeling his 
unworthiness and guilt, he cannot give up the 

438 



SEVENTEENTH SUNDAY AFTER TRINITY. 439 

effort nor demit the struggle to secure so great a 
boon. Many are indifferent, and give themselves 
little or no concern about it ; but every genuine 
Israel strives and agonizes to be on terms with 
God and to have His blessing. 

Nor are such efforts without good hope of suc- 
cess. Jacob wrestled for the divine benediction, 
and he prevailed and got it. God is not inexora- 
ble. He is willing to be entreated even by those 
who have wronged Him most. In our own 
strength and merit no one can win ; but earnestly 
pleading the mediation, mercy, and promises of 
Jesus, and persevering with a determination never 
to leave off, God himself will yield to our entreaty 
and acknowledge us as victors. It may cost us 
suffering, but we shall prevail. 

Notice then the items of blessing here promised 
to every such spiritual wrestler. 

God says, ' ' / will be as the dew to Israel. ' ' 
Gently and invisibly the dew distills upon the 
world, refreshing, comforting, and sustaining the 
drooping vegetation. And thus God promises to 
bless all who earnestly seek His favor. What a 
joy to the thirsting and famishing soul to learn 
that wrath is gone, and that condemnation is 
effectually turned away ! What a blessed cheer 
comes with the Gospel word of pardon and peace ! 
Like a balmy and healing moisture from heaven, 
it brings hope, and life, and gladness. God is 
ever graciously with His struggling people. His 
hand upholds them. His promises cheer them. 
His comforts delight them. His graces enliven 



44-0 BENEDICTIONS UPON THE WRESTLER. 

and sustain them. In spite of all earth's draw- 
backs and nature's infirmities, they are blessed; 
for God is to them as the dew upon the grass. 

And the further promise to every such wrestler 
is : u He shall grow as the lily." There be many 
plants which cannot stand the frosts of winter nor 
the heat of summer ; but the lily is one of those 
bulbous growths that carry in them such a store 
of life-elements as to enable them to live and 
thrive when other plants are blasted and dead. 
And as with the lily, so with every true Israel. 
By the mercy and grace of God he is furnished 
with vitality and grace against all times of adver- 
sity, trial, and despair. He has vigor and sub- 
stance enough in his ' ' root of faith ' ' to with- 
stand the winter's frosts and the summer's drought. 
He abides and puts forth in freshness and thrift 
when others are cut down as the grass or wither 
as the green herb. The grace of God is sufficient 
for him, making him strong amid weakness, joy- 
ous in tears, and triumphant even in seeming 
defeat. As the lily, He grows and flourishes. 

Furthermore, "He casteth forth his roots as 
Lebanon." Here is the idea of strength, firm- 
ness, and deep-seated power. Lebanon is Pales- 
tine's greatest mountain. It rises out of the 
earth's deep bosom and bathes its snowy summit 
in heaven. It is remarkable for its u roots," — its 
great rocky buttresses, which it sends out even 
into the sea. And so every true Israel's posi- 
tion is fixed and firm, as if rooted in the world's 
heart and girded by the granite framework of the 



SEVENTEENTH SUNDAY AFTER TRINITY. 44 1 

mountains. His foundation is the Rock of Ages. 
Nor waves nor storms can move or displace Him. 
There are many weaklings in the world, driven 
about by every wind of doctrine, and ready to yield 
to every new wave that comes. But the genuine 
Christian knows whom He has believed, and holds 
fast with an unfaltering trust. Nothing can drive 
or dislodge him from the precious faith on which 
his immortal hopes are built. Such at least is 
the birthright and privilege of every true child 
of God; and the grace for it is ours if we do but 
seek to avail ourselves of it. 

There is likewise an excellent expansiveness 
pledged to Christian life and experience. A 
mountain does not grow. But of the true Israel 
it is said, " His branches shall spread." Living 
Christianity means growth and aggression into 
the beyond. The genuine believer increases in 
faith, grows in grace, develops in knowledge, and 
strengthens in faithfulness, activity, and conquest. 
If we be Christians indeed, we will never rest 
with past experiences, attainments, and accom- 
plishments. The aim is ever to become better, 
more holy, more Godlike, more useful. There is 
a continual branching out into new fields, new 
efforts, and higher achievements. The Spirit of 
God is a living and active Spirit; and the indwell- 
ing of that Spirit makes it our life, our privilege, 
and our glory, to become wiser, more dutiful, 
more energetic, more effective, and more mature 
for heaven, every year that we live. And what- 
ever we may have experienced or achieved in the 



442 BENEDICTIONS. UPON THE WRESTLER. 

past, it belongs to our Christian life and char- 
acter to be ever ready and anxious to do greater 
things, and to put ourselves forth in ever-spread- 
ing branches. Wearying in well-doing is a prog- 
nostic of failure in the end. We must on, and 
ever on, while life and strength are given us. 
Planted and girded like Lebanon's Mountain, we 
are to spread our branches like Lebanon's Cedars, 
even as the trees which the Lord hath planted. 

And with all this comes beauty, — beauty like 
that of the olive tree, modest in external presenta- 
tions, but specially pleasing and attractive in in- 
ward fibre and richness of fruitage. A true Chris- 
tian character is a beautiful character; — beautiful 
in texture, beautiful in tendency, aim, and fruit- 
fulness. Let men say and think what they will; 
when the final verdict is reached its purport will 
be that 

A Christian is the highest style of man. 

His religion is not a mere creed, but an ex- 
perience, a life, — not a mere restraint, but an 
inspiration, — not only an insurance for the next 
world, but a programme and guide for this. 
Everything concerning him takes on peculiar 
attractiveness. Ignorance, prejudice, depravity, 
and a perverted understanding, may decry and 
hate him; but when he truly embodies what was 
so sweetly exemplified in Jesus, no right-minded 
man can deny his spiritual beauty. There is 
beauty in holiness, — beauty in its creation, — 
beauty in its development, — beauty in its pos- 



SEVENTEENTH SUNDAY AFTER TRINITY. 443 

session, — beauty in what it inspires, and beauty 
in what it achieves. Both in life and in death 
the good Christian is beautiful. The beauty of 
the Lord is upon him, like the beauty of angels. 

And hence also his life is fragrant. " His 
smell is as Lebanon." His quiet influence, like 
the name of Jesus, "is as ointment poured forth." 
Paul says of Christians, "By us God maketh 
manifest the savor of His knowledge in every 
place." As a man lives near to God, and is 
faithful to his Christian confession, there goes 
forth from him a peculiar aroma to refresh and 
cheer. From his life, his conversation, his pray- 
ers, his charities, and his good deeds there issues 
a sweet odor to make the world better for his pres- 
ence. Even those who walk not with him feel 
the good that he exhales, and in their hearts re- 
spect him more than they do one of themselves. 
He is a benediction to society, for such are the 
salt of the earth and the light of the world. Like 
the precious cedars of Lebanon, the savor of his 
life regales and blesses wherever his influence 
reaches. 

From this then, dear friends, we may see what 
practical Christianity is. It is a constant struggle 
and wrestling to secure and retain the favor and 
blessing of God. There must be a conquering to 
this end or we are undone. We must surmount 
the hindrances in the way, or true peace and home 
we cannot have. And though in our own strength 
alone we never could succeed, the Jehovah- Angel 
has come to us. On Him we can take hold. Nor 



444 BENEDICTIONS UPON THE WRESTLER. 

can we fail if we will but persevere. As Chris- 
tians, we are all in this struggle. Fortunately it 
is not a hopeless wrestle. Success is sure if we 
only keep at it, determined never to give it up. 

And blessed are the promises to those who are 
faithful. God will be as the dew to them. They 
shall grow as the lily. They shall be planted and 
girded like Lebanon, with affections in heaven 
even while living on earth. Growth, expansion, 
and blessing, and beauty shall mark their career. 
And when they pass away, the sweet savor of 
their lives shall linger long after they are gone. 

To this our calling then let us be true, deter- 
mined, and inflexible. It is the best we can do 
amid the infirmities, sins, and sufferings of this 
unsatisfying world. It will lift us highest and 
make us happiest of anything that can enlist our 
hearts and energies. And whatever adversities or 
trials may attend it here, they cannot last and 
will only add to the glory of the victory. For 
' ' if God be for us, who can be against us ? n 



Eighteenth Sunday after Trinity. 




Comfort ye, comfort ye my people, saith your God. Speak ye 
comfortably to Jerusalem, and cry unto her, that her warfare is accom- 
plished, that her iniquity is pardoned. — ISA. 40 : I, 2. 

[jOD has a people. It is made up of those 
whom He has called and chosen to serve 
and honor Him. All the circumcised 
seed of Abraham, who accepted the 
Lord's covenant, and confessed Jehovah as their 
God, were His people in the time Isaiah wrote. 
And all those who have been baptized into the 
Church of Christ, and confess Jesus as their Lord 
and Saviour, are, in the same sense, His people 
now. There were those of old who were Jews 
only outwardly, and whose circumcision was that 
of the flesh and not of the heart ; and so there be 
those now who have the form of godliness, and 
are outwardly rated as members of the Church, 
but who are not inwardly and in truth members 
of the communion of saints. God's true people 
are they who confess His word and name, accept 
and observe His ordinances, and with heart and 
soul believe on the Lord Jesus Christ as their 
hope and salvation. 



44-6 THE MESSAGE OF CONSOLATION. 

It may seem a little paradoxical that God's 
people, — those who have Him for their Father 
and L,ord, — should be in need of comfort. Nat- 
ural reason would suppose that people so highly 
distinguished as to be Jehovah's own would be 
lifted entirely above the common lot of mortals 
and would never want for consolation. But it is 
here implied that they may and do have sorrow. 
And when we inquire particularly into their case 
we find them always more or less the children of 
affliction while sojourning in this world. They 
have much with which they would not part ; but 
they also have much to bear. Jesus said of all 
His followers, in the world ye shall have tribula- 
tion. They are here chained to a body of death 
from whose clogging weight and infirmities they 
are never free. Sin still works in their members. 
The world they live in is adverse. Satan still 
assails them with his temptations. They often 
find themselves impelled and driven into what 
they would fain avoid. God Himself often leads 
them into wildernesses of trial and hardship, and 
makes the fires hot about them, that He may the 
more thoroughly purge out their sins, chasten 
their spirit, prove their sincerity, strengthen 
their graces, and develop them into a purer and 
better saintship. Hence the forty years of wan- 
dering in the desert. Hence the long contests 
with the Canaanites after the crossing of the 
Jordan. Hence the sore captivity of seventy 
years in Babylon. Nor is there any exemption 
or escape from affliction and sorrow of one kind 



EIGHTEENTH SUNDAY AFTER TRINITY. 447 

or another. Though they be God's people in 
deepest reality and truth, they still have need of 
comfort. 

But God has comfort for His people. Of old 
He covenanted with Israel that He would be 
their God, and that they should be His people. 
By virtue of that covenant they were distin- 
guished, honored, and blest beyond all others. 
They stood to God as no other people stood, and 
God stood to them as He stood to none others 
upon earth. He had them under His own special 
protection, and performed toward them all the 
offices of a true and faithful God. When they 
were oppressed and tried His ear was open to 
their cries. When in want He was ever present 
to supply them. When in darkness He gave 
them light, and served as their guide and help in 
all their straits. And what He was to Israel of 
old He is to His people still. By faith grafted in 
upon the same original olive-tree, all Christians 
occupy the same relation to Him that ancient 
Israel did. Baptized into His Name, and con- 
joined with the assembly of the saints, His cove- 
nant is with us, and we are His people, and He is 
our God. 

It is not easy to take in all the meaning and 
preciousness that belong to the relation thus es- 
tablished. God is a being of exhaustless fullness. 
His powers and possessions are endless. And in 
making Himself our God, He makes over to us 
all that He has and is. Holding His place and 
prerogatives as God, He holds them for our good, 



44-8 THE MESSAGE OF CONSOLATION. 

and for our blessing and salvation. He makes 
Himself, as it were, our property, — puts Himself 
to our use and service, — gives us the advantage 
and profit of all His ineffable Godhead. Every- 
thing that an almighty and eternal Being can be 
to us in the way of helping, keeping, and serving 
us, He makes Himself over to be to us. 

When Israel rebelled and forsook Him He 
afflicted and chastised them. Again and again 
His hand was heavy upon them, and His sore 
judgments overtook them for their sins. But 
He still did not cease from being their God, to 
whom they might penitently return and still find 
Him the same merciful and loving God and 
Father. If He afflicted them, it was still for 
their good, that they might turn from their fol- 
lies and have experience of His goodness. And 
such a God He is still to all who believe on His 
Name. 

This, then, is the first and great source and sub- 
ject of comfort and consolation to God's people. 
He has entered into covenant with them to be 
their God. This is a full offset to all their afflic- 
tions. Hence the divine Word is, ' ' Fear thou 
not, for I am with thee; be not dismayed, for I 
am thy God; I will strengthen thee; yea, I will 
help thee; yea, I will uphold thee with the right 
hand of my righteousness." By virtue of His 
covenant with us, we have a God who cannot fail 
us. He lives forever, and His mercy is everlast- 
ing. All that can harm us is under His control, 
and all that can help us is at His command. His 



EIGHTEENTH SUNDAY AFTER TRINITY. 449 

ear is never heavy that it cannot hear, nor His 
hand shortened that He cannot save. Be the 
situation what it may, He is ours to bring us 
through, — ever our own faithful God. 

Two further items of comfort are named. The 
prophet was to tell Jerusalem that her iniquity is 
pardoned and her warfare accomplished. Great 
was her guilt. She had sinned against light and 
love. She had turned aside unto idols. She had 
stoned and killed the prophets sent unto her. 
She had piled up iniquity on iniquity. But still 
there was pardon for her; and that pardon was 
proclaimed as a present and living reality, if she 
would believe and receive it. 

And so, through Christ, there is now offered 
and proclaimed a present, complete, and everlast- 
ing forgiveness to all who consent to be and re- 
main God's people. Jesus hath borne our sins in 
His own body on the tree. By His precious blood 
He hath expiated our offences. The iniquities 
of us all were laid on Him, and He hath answered 
for them. And no matter how many or great our 
sins have been, there is now no more condemna- 
tion, if we only accept the pardon which the 
Gospel preaches to us. It is not a pardon to be 
worked out by our prayers, penances, and good 
deeds. It is not a pardon that is to be ours 
only at some future time, when a certain proba- 
tion is passed. It is not a pardon simply for some 
of our sins, or which sets us only partially free. 
It is a perfect pardon, already complete, cover- 
ing every iniquity, and exonerating us from all 

29 



450 THE MESSAGE OF CONSOLATION. 

condemnation if we will only believe and re- 
ceive it. 

There is nothing so dreadful as to be under the 
condemnation and wrath of Almighty God. It 
puts upon us a curse as terrible as the agony 
which wrung the Saviour's soul. It fastens upon 
us an amount of ill which no tongue can tell, 
which no effort can escape, and which no being 
can stand up under. If death could swallow one 
up in the horrors of annihilation, it would not be 
a fraction of the calamity involved in the endur- 
ance of the irremediable wrath of God. And in 
proportion to the dreadfulness of such a woe is the 
preciousness and comfort of the pardon proclaimed 
to us in Christ. Even men of the liveliest faith 
do not half appreciate it. It carries in it an im- 
measurable abundance of blessing and consolation. 

And we can have it for the acceptance of it ! 
Did men but realize it what a comfort is here ! 
Failing to appreciate it, they miss the joy of an 
unspeakable blessing. Therefore the heralds of 
God are commanded to lift up their voices, to 
throw into them the utmost emphasis, and to pro- 
claim with fullest energy and earnestness that 
the decree is passed that mercy has prevailed, 
that pardon is granted, that the great condemna- 
tion is gone. And if we did but know and realize 
it, here is a comfort and a joy for God's people 
which should make them forever glad. 

And as the result of this absolution, and con- 
nected with it as part of the same glad proclama- 
tion, there is the further announcement that all 



EIGHTEENTH SUNDAY AFTER TRINITY. 45 I 

present adversities and calamities are nearing 
their termination. The word is, " speak ye com- 
fortably to Jerusalem, and cry unto her that her 
warfare is accomplished. ' ' The metaphor is mili- 
tary, and the meaning is that the time of her hard 
service, her subjugation, and her misery was now 
touching upon its limit, — that the era of freedom 
and jubilee was about to dawn. The first refer- 
ence may have been to the restoration from the 
Babylonian captivity, and thence to the nearing 
exemption from the old bondage to the burden- 
some exactions of the Mosaic laws ; but it referred 
also to the final release from all burdens, aches, 
and disabilities. 

In part the warfare is already over. The old 
law with its burdens, if not repealed, has had its 
penalty satisfied. It cannot bind nor condemn the 
believer in Jesus. The Devil's dominion has been 
broken, and he cannot oppress us now beyond 
what we are able to bear. He can no longer 
tyrannize over us by bringing up oar sins, for 
they have all been cancelled in our Saviour's 
blood. Sin may still linger in our members, and 
much trouble us by its presence even when we 
would do the best ; but its power is broken, and 
the Spirit so helpeth our infirmities that we need 
no longer be overwhelmed. We have an Advo- 
cate with the Father to maintain our cause. Here 
is comfort, and assurance, and consolation in 
which we may well rejoice and be glad, even in 
the midst of all the ills and trials that still remain. 
And the proclamation is that even these are near- 



452 THE MESSAGE OF CONSOLATION. 

ing their end and about to vanish away. It is 
4 'but for a moment," and then will come the 
everlasting release. 

Often are even the Lord's people made to sigh 
and cry, O to be rid of these aches and ills, these 
stripes and vexations, this exposure to adverse 
elements, vicissitudes, bereavement, and sorrow ! 
O to be released from the decay of age, the power 
of disease, the bands and gloom and horribleness 
of death ! O to be done with disappointments, and 
infidelities, and the harsh ingratitudes that torture 
and afflict our souls ! O for a life that ends 
not, a world that fades not, a holiness that errs 
no more ! O for affections ever fresh, for facul- 
ties that never weary, for loving companionships 
which cannot be soiled nor sundered ! But what 
they thus covet is not far away. The blessed 
consummation is nearer than they think. A little 
while, and we shall have done with earth's bur- 
dens and disabilities for ever. A little while and 
the ascended Saviour will come again to receive 
us unto Himself, to conduct us into the mansions 
He has gone to prepare for us, and to introduce 
us into the everlasting home of peace and rest. 
And with this we may comfort ourselves. Nor 
is there anything in being that can so cheer and 
gladden the jaded heart of man as just these 
assurances, which God proclaims to us by His 
holy word. 

See, then, dear friends, the merciful tenderness 
of our heavenly Father. He would have us com- 
forted. Though many a burden and trial be 



EIGHTEENTH SUNDAY AFTER TRINITY. 453 

upon us, He would not have us without consola- 
tion. He gives Himself to be a God to us in all 
our need of Him. He is most urgent in having 
us feel and know that our sins, though many, are 
all blotted out and taken clean away in the blood 
of Christ; and that what we yet suffer because of 
them is soon to be over for ever. And what more 
could we ask or wish? O the comfort and peace 
of a vigorous and confiding faith ! 



Nineteenth Sunday after Trinity. 




And Lot pitched his tent toward Sodom. — Gen. 13 : 12. 

JJHEN people are called upon to make 
choice in life, and to branch out for 
themselves, they often make very un- 
2i fortunate work of it. Even where there 
is nothing wrong or sinful in their choice, it is 
often very unwisely made, and what was chosen 
for superior good turns out for particular evil. 

IyOt thought he was doing a splendid thing for 
himself and his posterity when he choose this 
Jordan plain. He thought he was acting with 
very special foresight and consideration. ' ' He 
lifted up his eyes, and beheld all the plain of 
Jordan, that it was well watered everywhere, 
even as the garden of the Lord. And so he jour- 
neyed east, and pitched his tent toward Sodom. ' ' 

Viewed from the hills toward Bethel, the Jordan 
circle was then a scene of enchanting loveliness. 
From either side of the wide outstretched plain 
the brooks and rivulets poured down from their 
mountain springs, and through the centre rolled 
the meandering river. 

God loves beauty, and hence has imprinted it 



NINETEENTH SUNDAY AFTER TRINITY. 455 

on His works; and He has implanted the like 
instinct in the human soul. It was no fault in 
Lot that he admired and was drawn by the fasci- 
nations of the rich and splendid country that 
spread itself before him. It was a goodly land, 
and one desirable to dwell in, which, in the long 
after years, touched and fired the great soul of 
Moses himself as he looked down upon it from 
Nebo's summit. 

Nor is it wrong in us in choosing and arranging 
our homes for ourselves and our children to seek 
out pleasant locations and to surround ourselves 
with what is pleasing to the eye and grateful to 
the imagination. As there is no sin in having 
elegant mansions, fair gardens, and fine pictures 
to look on, provided we can afford it ; so neither 
is there evil in desiring fertile fields and well- 
watered lands, instead of being confined to barren 
rocks and parched moors. Whatever God has 
given of good and pleasantness it is the Chris- 
tian's privilege to like, appropriate, and enjoy, if 
he has his choice, the same as any other. Monk- 
ish asceticism may enjoin self-mortifications in 
such matters, but it is no requirement of the good 
Father in heaven. And if places and things have 
in them suggestions dear to memory, they are all 
the more desirable and worthy of our regard. 
The Jordan plains reminded Lot of the home of 
man in his primeval days, and the blessedness of 
that time and place where the primal father of the 
race walked in innocence with God. Nor were 
any of these attractions to be despised in making 



456 A DISASTROUS CHOICE. 

choice of a land and home for himself and his 
children. 

But there were serious drawbacks. Bad neigh- 
bors are a great depreciation to any locality ; and 
the inhabitants of the villages in this Jordanic 
plain were very bad people and sinners of a very 
aggravated type. 

We cannot avoid contact with bad people so 
long as we are in this world ; but it is good policy 
to have as little to do with them as possible. 
Mingling with and marrying into the families of 
the ungodly is what ruined the antediluvian 
world, and has ruined the peace and happiness of 
many worthy people in every age and country. 
The greatest mischief to the Church of God is the 
lowering and obliteration of the walls and fences 
between it and the world. Contiguity with the 
wicked begets ties and common interests with the 
wicked, predisposes to leniency toward their ill 
ways, and tends to draw the soul into what God 
cannot approve. Lot was a good man and quite 
settled in his faith, which had served to bring 
him from idolatrous Ur to where he might wor- 
ship the true God in peace ; but even he was not 
proof against the deteriorating and corrupting in- 
fluence of his bad associations. Human nature 
will always take on evil more readily than good. 
The contagion of a diseased man will impart dis- 
ease to a dozen sound men, but the health of a 
sound man is not so readily imparted to one dis- 
eased. Example and the ways of society at large 
are very strong ; but they are always the strongest 



NINETEENTH SUNDAY AFTER TRINITY. 457 

in the bad direction. It is hard for Christians in 
any case to keep unspotted from the world. And 
it was a bad calculation for Lot that he did not 
take this into the account. 

And if he should even be proof against the cor- 
rupting influence of his bad neighbors, his choice 
necessarily threw him into many sorrows and 
grievances by reason of them. We are told that 
his soul was often "vexed with their filthy con- 
versations." Nevertheless, " Lot pitched his tent 
toward Sodom." 

But there were several deeper faults and flaws 
in this move. 

First of all, it was too avaricious in principle. 
The getting of the good lands was the main 
thought and aim. Whatever else might be risked, 
lie wished above all to settle himself well with 
regard to earthly and outward gains, comforts, 
and possessions. It was by what his eyes saw 
that he was most led. And this is always a doubt- 
ful principle on which to act. When all other 
things are evenly balanced it may be allowed to 
decide ; but to be controlled by the lusts of the 
eyes is to be led by cupidity to indulge a covetous- 
ness which is idolatry. God, the worship of God, 
and the bringing up of families in His fear and 
service, should be the first consideration in any 
move which a good man makes. Lot was a good 
man, but he suffered himself to be captivated with 
the idea of possessing a rich country. He did not 
mean to sacrifice his religion ; but in his zeal for 
worldly comforts and possessions he omitted to 



45 8 A DISASTROUS CHOICE. 

provide for its due protection. And here was his 
great mistake and a great flaw in his proceeding. 

And this defect in principle also operated to 
beget a faulty selfishness and neglect with regard 
to the dues of others. Abraham had indeed given 
him right to choose as he pleased. It was a mag- 
nanimous generosity which submitted such an 
offer; and it called for some acknowledgment on 
the part of L,ot. Abraham was the uncle, the 
elder, the rightful head and governor of the en- 
tire establishment. It was on Abraham that L,ot 
had depended all the way through, both for his 
status as a worshipper of the true God, and for 
whatever of prosperity had attended his immigra- 
tion to Canaan. It would have been eminently 
proper for him to throw the whole question back 
again to Abraham, who had the wiser head and 
the higher authority, and from whom he had had 
nothing but good and justice in all the years 
of their pilgrimage together. There was every 
reason to believe that Abraham would have made 
the very best disposition of the question possible. 
But Iyot was too eager to secure what his eyes 
saw and his heart coveted, to refer the matter to 
his wise uncle and benefactor. The chance was 
before him, and he zealously grasped it, consider- 
ing only himself, and leaving out all consideration 
of his uncle's interest, or his uncle's superior 
right to advise. This was selfish and ungrateful. 
But so young people sometimes act to their own 
detriment. 

It may be our right to choose for ourselves, 



NINETEENTH SUNDAY AFTER TRINITY. 459 

without reference to any advice or wishes on the 
part of those above us, and without regard to 
what fathers, mothers, or those on whom we have 
been dependent might feel or wish; but it is very 
selfish and ungrateful to do it, and is very apt 
to work badly, and to bring many sad regrets. 
When God gives Abrahams to young Lots, it is 
not for nothing; and to leave them out of con- 
sideration in any case, is very unsafe, and an im- 
propriety which never promises well. 

Lot furthermore assumed risks and exposure, 
not only to his religious character and hopes, but 
also to everything he held dear on earth. He not 
only became entangled with bad neighbors and 
their ill ways, but also with their enemies. Pitch- 
ing his tent toward Sodom, it was not long till 
we find him in Sodom, his daughters married to 
children of Sodom, his wife wrapped up in the 
society and possessions of Sodom, and himself 
powerless against the abominations of Sodom. 
Parting with Abraham and Abraham's counsel, 
he parted with the best influences that had ever 
been exercised over him. Calculating above all 
for his worldly advantage, he sorely suffered in 
the raid of the four kings, and finally lost all he 
had in the destruction which befell Sodom for its 
wickedness. He went down into those attractive 
plains a wealthy man, with a happy family, with 
every outward prospect of a prosperous life; but 
he came out stripped of all his possessions, his 
wife turned into a mound of salt, and his own 
life saved only so as by fire. It proved a general 



4^0 A DISASTROUS CHOICE. 

ruin to his own peace and comfprt in life, and 
threw a cloud over his character and over all his 
posterity. His wretchedness brought on by that 
move was pitiable in the extreme. 

And yet hot was not a bad man. We miss the 
point if we class him with hypocrites and unbe- 
lievers, or rate him with the irreligious and the 
careless. He meant it well, and was guilty of 
no particular sin in choosing as he did. But, like 
many otherwise good and well-meaning people, 
he did not consider. He did not act wisely. He 
let the worldly spirit influence him more than 
was meet. He acted with too much worldly 
eagerness and self-will. He over-estimated his 
ability to direct himself, and took no one's coun- 
sel. This was the spring of all his sad misfor- 
tune. And not all the faith and goodness that 
may be in men will serve to deliver them from 
the sad consequences of their mistakes when 
once they begin to act on the general principles 
of the world. 

The case of IyOt thus stands out as a beacon 
light to all Church people to be on their guard 
how they deal with themselves, even when not 
chargeable with any special sin. In every life, 
times and occasions come when choice is to be 
made, — when there must be a separation from the 
old connections and old dependencies to act for 
one's self. The youth leaving home, the choice 
of a profession, the changing of pursuits, the 
selection of new places of residence, the forming 
of new alliances, the starting of new homes, and 



NINETEENTH SUNDAY AFTER TRINITY. 46 1 

adventures to secure a better fortune, are all such 
times. And these are always critical times, — the 
times in which the greatest dangers come, — times 
which call for the devoutest and most thorough 
consideration. They are times in which mistakes 
and unwisdom, though not sinful in themselves, 
yet disastrously color and cloud the whole after- 
life, and bring evil on generations after us. The 
time comes to every one when he must pitch tent 
in some new direction; and pitching it toward 
Sodom may have in it everything to captivate 
and attract so far as the worldly eye can see; but 
it is a hazardous experiment, and in most cases, 
as in Lot's, it will result in sorrowful disaster. 

Here then is a lesson for parents. You wish 
to give your children a pleasant inheritance, an 
attractive home, a situation in life of which they 
can be proud, and in which to be rich and happy. 
But what precautions have you taken to guard 
their religious interests, to keep them from evil 
associations and from alliances with the wicked? 
You are anxious to give them a home that shall 
be congenial to their health and physical wel- 
fare; but what have you thought of Church privi- 
leges, connection with the means of grace, asso- 
ciation with people you can approve, and the 
opportunities for the health and salvation of their 
souls ? What will your own example upon them 
necessarily be, if for worldly advantages you put 
yourselves down where there are no Abrahams nor 
Sarahs to keep up the spirit of faith and devotion, 
and no Church conveniences that you can ap- 



462 A DISASTROUS CHOICE. 

prove, no houses of the Lord to which to take 
your children, that they may grow up in the fear 
and favor of God ? You have had an eye to good 
lands, to pleasant locations, to fruitful fields, to 
business conveniences, to prosperous situations; 
but how far have you been considering the wants 
of your souls and of the souls of your house- 
holds? You mean it well; but in how many in- 
stances is it Lot over again, pitching tent toward 
Sodom? 

Here also is a solemn lesson for all young peo- 
ple and those making arrangements to settle 
themselves in life. You are looking to what 
pleases your fancy, — you are joining yourselves to 
companions, associates, and connections that 
must necessarily have a controlling influence 
over your whole earthly life, — you are fixing the 
character of your employment, your profession, 
your business relations, your place of residence, 
and the line of things in which you propose to 
spend your earthly existence, — you are closely 
calculating your chances, your greatest successes, 
your prospects of a good livelihood, your opportu- 
nities for winning a fortune, honor, or promotion 
in the world, — you are shaping matters that must 
shape your whole career. These things are more 
or less occupying your earnest thought and atten- 
tion by day and by night. But what respect are 
you showing to the wishes and advice of your 
parents, your superiors, and those most capable 
and most anxious to have you do the best ? You 
are striking out on your own account, and to act 



NINETEENTH SUNDAY' AFTER TRINITY. 463 

for yourselves, where the old home influences will 
no longer be over you, and all your surroundings 
will undergo a change ; and what consideration 
are you giving to the moral and religious bearings 
of your choice and movements? What account 
are you taking for your souls, the nurture and 
security of your faith and hopes toward God ? 
What is the outlook for the influences and entan- 
glements that may come from the choice you are 
making ? Have you looked at the exposure and 
risk to which you are subjecting yourselves and 
yours in the eager pursuit of what so attracts and 
pleases your imagination ? Alas, what multitudes 
of Lots do we find about us, — good and well- 
meaning indeed, but captivated with worldly fan- 
cies, — and pitching their tents toward Sodom ! 

And what a solemn lesson is here for all of us ! 
We are continually choosing, — making new ar- 
rangements, — entering on new fields and experi- 
ments. The old order of things is ever and anon 
getting out of joint, dissolving, and pushing us 
out into new selections, enterprises, and attempts 
for the better. We cannot help it. Circumstances 
demand it. And we must again and again cast 
about for new departures. Much thought and 
anxiety are necessarily involved, and the moves 
we make are vitally related to all our future. 
What weight, then, are we giving to the spiritual, 
moral, and religious side of the matter? Is it 
Jordan's fair plains, or Abraham's God, that is the 
uppermost in our thoughts and calculations? 

Ah, this pitching of tents toward Sodom, — this 



464 A DISASTROUS CHOICE. 

throwing ourselves into associations with the 
w T icked to please our earthly tastes and further 
our earthly comforts and fortunes, — this going 
down into the doomed world in hope of improving 
our comforts and estate, — what noble souls it has 
ruined, — what lives it has made wretched, — -what 
ill ends it has brought on otherwise good people ! 
L,et us take warning then, dear friends, and beware 
of pitching our tents toward Sodom. 



®f)e Samaritan ffliHotnan. 

Twentieth Sunday after Trinity. 




How is it that Thou, being a Jew, askest drink of me, which am a 
woman of Samaria ? for the Jews have no dealings with the Samari- 
tans. Jesus answered and said unto her, If thou knewest the gift of 
God, and who it is that saith to thee, Give me to drink ; thou wouldest 
have asked of Him, and He would have given thee living water. — 
John 4 : 9, 10. 

T is a striking fact that a Jew can gener- 
ally be recognized. There'is no disgrace 
in it, but it is hard for him to conceal or 
obliterate the peculiar indications of his 
race: No matter where he is born and reared, 
what language he speaks, what centuries or ages 
of naturalization have intervened, nothing can 
entirely wipe off his Jewish features. In Jerusa- 
lem, in Babylon, in Egypt, in Rome, in Tartary, 
and everywhere on earth, the discerning eye can 
detect a Jew. He belongs to a peculiar race, and 
always carries the marks of it. Nearly every 
nation has a general type of its own, but never so 
distinct and certain as that of the Jews, even 
after two thousand years of dispersion among the 
nations. 

These Jewish marks could be recognized in 
Jesus also. "He took on Him the seed of Abra- 

30 465 



466 THE SAMARITAN WOMAN. 

ham." But He did not try to conceal His Jewish 
kinship. He never attempted to play a double 
part in anything; neither should we. Iyife is too^ 
real, too solemn, too momentous, to admit of at- 
tempts at disguise. We are what we are in spite 
of all the masks we may wear; and we should 
never be ashamed to be and appear what our 
Creator made us, even where it may be to our 
disadvantage. 

To the eye of this woman the speech, dress, 
and face of Christ bespoke a Jew, and He had no 
wish to make it seem otherwise. He was a Jew, 
and that fact was now in His way; but He would 
not be other than His true self. 

He was now travelworn, thirsty, hungry, weary. 
He was waiting for bread; and He civilly asked 
for a drink of water. There was no just reason 
why it should not be given Him by a Samaritan 
woman, even if He was a Jew. Was He not a 
brother-man ? Was He not partaker in the same 
common wants and deserving of the same humane 
consideration with other men? And why hesitate 
about bestowing a common civility upon a needy 
and worthy fellow-being only because he is of 
another party? This woman had done worse 
things than give a drink of water to a Jew. But 
party and prejudice are often much stronger than 
principle, and she must withhold the water while 
she vents her Samaritan spite and hatred, though 
a man should perish for want of a little water, 
and though the very Son of God was being struck 
by her taunts about His earthly kinship. 



TWENTIETH SUNDAY "AFTER TRINITY. 467 

A worthier, greater, holier man than that weary 
and suppliant stranger she had never seen. A 
more deserving civility she could never bestow 
than that which was so respectfully requested 
and under the circumstances so eloquently en- 
treated. But He was a Jew, and she a Samar- 
itan; therefore He must be taunted, insulted, 
and for the time denied. Poor, narrow-hearted, 
malignant human nature ! What is meaner than 
a vaunting pride of race, rank, caste, family, and 
clique ? What is more ridiculous and absurd than 
the way some people prate and swagger about 
' ' society, ' ' family, and blood ? And those who 
claim and proclaim the loudest generally have 
the worst record. A loose-lived Samaritan woman 
of mongrel parentage vaunts over the blood of 
David and the Son of God ! 

And well may we blush for the baseness of 
human nature, as well as wonder at the sublime 
humility and meekness of our adorable Saviour, 
as we contemplate this picture. A common beg- 
gar might have asked of the most honorable, and 
have received; but the great and glorious Messiah, 
for whom the ages waited, was only jeered as 
being a Jew when He asked a drink of water 
from a woman whose stained life should have 
shut her mouth about the relations of other peo- 
ple ! Had Jesus caused her to drop dead at His 
feet, as Sapphira before the face of Peter, it would 
have been less than she deserved. 

But there was no spirit of retaliation in that 
meek sufferer. He came not to destroy men's 



468 THE SAMARITAN WOMAN. 

lives, but to save them. He was not on earth to 
resent disrespect and reproach, but to pity the 
weaknesses and sins of humanity, and to suffer 
for its forgiveness and salvation. His only reply 
was: u If thou knew est the gift of God, and who it 
is that saith to thee, Give me drink; thou moulds t 
have asked Him, and He would have given thee 
living water" 

From this answer of Christ two things appear. 

I. We here get a glimpse of that good which 
Jesus came to impart to the children of men. He 
calls it ' ' The gift of God. ' ' Many and various 
are God's gifts. If we were to reckon them up, 
they would be as the sands of the sea, multiplied 
by the number of stars in the firmament, for mul- 
titude. And many of them are so great in worth 
that we cannot even begin to estimate their value. 
But with all, there is one which stands out in 
vast preeminence as ' ' The Gift " — the Gift of gifts. 

Nor ought there to be any difficulty in identify- 
ing it. Some would have us think of Christ as 
the gift. Others have taken it to be the Holy 
Ghost. And still others consider it the life eternal. 
But it is neither of these, contemplated singly. 
It is a complex of gifts and mercies. It is the 
gift of God's only Son, Jesus Christ; it is the gift 
of the Holy Ghost; and it is the gift of eternal 
life; all these, and whatever else pertains to our 
salvation. 

Redemption is one. However complex the par- 
ticulars in which it consists, or is procured, or is 



TWENTIETH SUNDAY AFTER TRINITY. 469 

imparted it is everywhere contemplated in the 
singular, and as the paramount and all-crowning 
donation of almighty goodness. ' ' God so loved 
the world that He gave His Only Begotten Son, 
that whosoever believeth on Him might not per- 
ish, but have everlasting life." This tells the 
whole story. The Lord Jesus is in this gift; and 
everlasting life is in it ; and the activities of the 
Holy Ghost are in it ; and so all the facts and 
items which go along with Christian life and 
hopes, even to glory everlasting. Nothing less 
than this is the preeminent Gift of God; and noth- 
ing less than this does He bring within the reach 
of all to whom He comes, and even to this inso- 
lent woman and her mongrel kin. 

He further calls it ' ' Living water. ' ' One of 
the gladdest things in the world is pure, fresh, 
springing water. It is one of God's most precious 
life-gifts to the world. And to this the Saviour 
here likens the good which the Gospel brings. 
Where it comes it carries blessed rejuvenation. 
Where it is received sinking strength recovers, 
and dying life rekindles, and perishing souls re- 
cover, a thousand springs are set a flowing with 
gladness, and everything sings and rejoices with 
new-begotten life ! Where there was barrenness 
there is a putting forth for happy fruitfulness. 
Where there was desolation there is bloom and 
joy. Where there was rocky hardness there is 
genial soil. Where there was thirst and famish- 
ing there is satisfaction and blessedness. Where 
there was filthiness, dust and death, there is sane- 



470 THE SAMARITAN WOMAN. 

tification, beauty, and unfading glory. Yea, such 
and so precious is the good which Jesus brings to 
the famished children of men. 

Nor can it come without Him. He brings it. 
He gives it. All the blessings and privileges of 
the covenant of grace come through Him. He 
tells this woman of Sychar that it was His pre- 
rogative to give the living water. He is the true 
Rock of Horeb whence the gushing streams come 
forth to give life to perishing Israel. For this 
purpose was He smitten by the rod of the law. 
For this was His body broken and His heart 
rifted. For this He lives and is ever with His 
Church, even unto the end of the world. From 
His cross forgiveness flows. From His throne the 
Holy Spirit is sent. And through His word and 
sacraments He comes to us with life for evermore. 

II. We may here also see why so many fail to 
get the benefit of this heavenly good. 

The first hindrance is ignorance. The Saviour 
tells this woman that if she had known the Gift 
of God, and who it was that was conversing with 
her, she would have asked, and He would have 
given her living water. But as yet she did not 
know Him nor the gift of God ; and so she was 
without the living water, and showed no anxiety 
to possess it. A like ignorance is that which 
keeps many from salvation and from solicitude 
about their souls. People treat religious things 
with indifference, neglect, and contempt without 
meaning any harm by it. The trouble is that 



TWENTIETH SUNDAY AFTER TRINITY. ' 47 1 

they do not know what they are doing, what 
treasures they are allowing to pass from them, 
what blessedness they are trampling under foot. 
They may be wide awake on other things. They 
may be intelligent and wise in temporal and secu- 
lar affairs. They may understand politics, finance, 
business, and the laws of ordinary life and suc- 
cess. They may be learned in the sciences, the 
stars, the rocks, the plants, the animals. They 
may be skilled in history, in laws, in languages, 
in art, in mechanism. They may even be great 
authorities in some departments of knowledge. 
But they are indifferent about the preeminent 
things of man's salvation and eternal life. And 
the reason is that they know not the gift of God. 
They do not understand it. They have no appre- 
ciation of it. Even when they have it brought to 
them, and the very voice and words of the Son of 
God are sounded in their ears, and everything is 
so clearly presented that they themselves can re- 
hearse it, they do not take in, nor realize, nor know 
what tremendous things they are dealing with, nor 
what unspeakable treasures are thus brought to 
them. They know not the gift of God, nor who 
it is that is speaking with them. Seeing, they 
see not ; and hearing, they do not understand. 
They perceive no commanding worth, no pressing 
necessities, no motions of eternal Deity for their 
redemption. The great and all-crowning gift of 
heaven comes to them, is on all sides of them, is 
filling their eyes and ears, and they themselves 
are conversing with it all the while ; and yet they 



472 THE SAMARITAN WOMAN. 

do not perceive, do not understand, do not take 
in ; and Christ and salvation pass for nothing. 
They drink and drink of their earthly wells, and 
ever come back thirsty as ever, and know not that 
the spring of salvation is at hand flowing with 
living water, which he who drinks shall never 
thirst again. They fail of the transcendent good 
of the divine munificence, and remain in their 
unsanctity and destitution, self-satisfied and self- 
secure, and even sneering at the world's Re- 
deemer, because they do not know the grace of 
God and the time of their visitation. Their mis- 
ery is their ignorance and the cherished blindness 
of their unsanctified hearts. 

Another hindrance is prejudice. But for her 
Samaritan dislike of Jesus, and the pique of her 
people against the Jewish claims and professions, 
she would have treated Christ in a very different 
way. And so it is perpetually. There is an im- 
mense amount of Samaritan prejudice and resent- 
ment in the irreligious world. Is it a religious 
book or lecture ? That is enough to damn it in 
their regard and esteem. Any subject is more 
palatable to them than the subject of the salva- 
tion of their souls. They will hear us willingly 
and meet us on social terms, if only we will not 
talk religion to them. Of all men there are none 
whom they more despise than these sanctimonious 
people, who are ever preaching up church and 
religious devotion. They would at any time 
rather witness a play than hear a sermon, or join 
in a dance than in a prayer. They are impatient 



TWENTIETH SUNDAY AFTER TRINITY. 473 

and ill at ease the moment they detect a disposi- 
tion to influence them to the duties of piety and 
the ordinances of God. They never talk of these 
matters, and do not wish to be talked to about 
them. They have a feeling of aversion to the 
whole thing. They would think themselves be- 
littled to become earnest Christian men and 
women. They despise the thought of it. They 
are full of resentment and censoriousness toward 
all these goody people, and would rather keep 
aloof. They would as soon see them driven from 
the community, from society, and from all respect- 
able consideration. If they had their way, they 
would smite them at all points. And more or less 
of this feeling is in every unsanctified heart. 
Hence there is much incivility toward Christ and 
the people who belong to Him. There is a preju- 
dice, breeding all sorts of ill manners, which 
would be considered intolerable except as against 
religious things and religious professors. And 
this prejudice — this aversion toward Christ as a 
Jew — this unwillingness to treat respectfully with 
Him and His servants, — is the secret cause why 
so many fail to know the gift of God, or to secure 
to themselves the water of life. 

But the greatest hindrance of all is, that peo- 
ple do not ask Christ for this living water. Christ 
tells this woman that if she had understood and 
asked, He would have given her what would have 
made her blessed for ever. But she did not ask, 
and the implication is that He could not impart 
this living water so long as it w r as not wanted and 



474 THE SAMARITAN WOMAN. 

solicited. The gifts and privileges of the Gospel 
are freely made to all, but they are possessed by 
none but those who seek them by faith and prayer. 
Anxious as Christ was to bestow His mercies upon 
the suffering and needy, He always drew from 
them first a confession of their misery and some 
earnest prayer for His help. In the great promises 
which are yet outstanding to Jehovah's ancient 
people, there is still this condition added: "I will 
yet for this be inquired of by the house of Israel, 
to doit for them." Though God knows what 
things we have need of before we ask Him, He 
yet commands us ' ' by prayer and supplication to 
make our requests known unto Him." The word 
and law respecting all His glorious benefactions 
is, "Ask, and it shall be given you ; seek, and ye 
shall find ; knock, and it shall be opened unto 
you. For every one that asketh, receiveth ; and 
he that seeketh, findeth ; and to him that knocketh, 
it shall be opened. ' ' God is more willing to give 
His Holy Spirit, than earthly parents to give good 
things to their children ; but only "to them that 
ask Him. " "If thou criest after knowledge, and 
liftest up thy voice for understanding ; if thou 
seekest her as silver, and searchest for her as for 
hid treasure ; then shalt thou understand the fear 
of the Lord, and find the knowledge of God." 
And the grand reason why so few ever find and 
secure eternal life is, because they never seek and 
never obediently ask of God to give it them. 
They are earnest and anxious enough about 
other matters. They are intent in their several 



TWENTIETH SUNDAY AFTER TRINITY. 475 

pursuits of business, pleasure, or self-promotion. 
They are eager to add field to field, and to join 
house to house. And they fondly anticipate a 
time when they may say to themselves, ' ' Soul, 
take thine ease, for thou has much goods laid up 
for many years." But for the great things of the 
life eternal, and the inheritance that fadeth not 
away, they have no zeal to show, no prayers to 
offer, no earnest application to make ! 

How is it, then, dear friends, with you? To 
us, as to this woman of Sychar, has the Saviour 
come. By the side of all these earthly wells 
whither people come to drink only to thirst again, 
He sits with living water to slake all thirst for 
ever. To this woman there was some degree of 
excuse for not knowing Christ; but what excuse 
can we plead for not knowing Him? If any 
among us are strangers to His character, gifts, 
and offers, it is not because we have not abundant 
opportunity to be familiar with them. If any 
one listening to me now has never made an 
earnest and honest application to Him for the 
water of life, it is not because there has been no 
chance, no call, no necessity for it. What answer, 
then, do you propose to give for not knowing the 
Gift of God, and not asking share in those living 
waters which spring up into eternal life? On 
what plea do you think to rest when the day of 
judgment comes and finds you uncleansed, un- 
baptized, unsanctified, and destitute of God's 
saving grace? This unclean, uncivil, and un- 
promising Samaritan woman, yet listened, and 



476 THE SAMARITAN WOMAN. 

inquired, and was saved; and so may we all. 
But it can only be by repenting out of our old 
prejudice, indifference, and neglect, and taking 
Jesus as our Teacher, our Messiah, and our L,ord. 
O that men might but know the gift of God, 
and who it is that stands in meek weariness, plead- 
ing with them to come to Him that they might 
have life ! And if any here are still without a 
saving interest in Christ, let them open their 
eyes and see, and open their ears and hear, and 
open their mouths and ask, lest He pass them by, 
and leave them to perish for ever. 



Cije &wx$ of Jesus, 

Twenty-first Sunday after Trinity. 




And when He was come near, He beheld the city, and wept over 
it. — Luke 19 -.\\. 

EARS are no strange thing in our world. 
Since the day that Adam went weeping 
from Eden the earth has never ceased 
to be a vale of tears. Abraham, and 
Isaac, and Joseph wept. Hezekiah, and Isaiah, 
and Jeremiah, and Ezra, and Nehemiah wept. 
And Peter and Paul wept. When David fled from 
the rebellion of Absalom he went up the Mount 
of Olives, and wept as he went, and all the people 
that were with him "went up weeping as they 
went. ' ' According to Homer, Achilles and Ulysses 
wept. History tells that Alexander, and Caesar, 
and Cato, and Brutus, and Scipio, and Napoleon 
wept. And there be few men that have ever 
lived, however great or small, who never wept. 
But here we have an instance of an outburst 
of tears altogether peculiar and specially remark- 
able. Here was a man, the most exalted in His 
nature, His offices, and His power, that ever 
walked in flesh and blood, — a Divine man, — a 
God-man — the only begotten of eternal Deity, — 

477 



478 THE TEARS OF JESUS. 

whose voice could still the tempest and raise the 
dead, — whose touch could heal the leper, give 
sight to the blind, hearing to the deaf, and speech 
to the dumb, — suddenly deluged with a flood of 
tears. Who would have anticipated such a thing 
from such a Being? 

It was in the midst of a grand triumphal pro- 
cession. He was mounted as a prince. A re- 
joicing multitude was with Him. Men were 
strewing His path with green, and laying down 
their garments for Him to ride upon. As the 
prophet predicted, it was the King of Zion coming 
into the holy City. Multitudes going before, and 
multitudes following after, were making the hill- 
sides ring with loud and prolonged Hosannas to 
Him as the Son of David, and the long-expected 
Prince of peace. But in the midst of all this 
enthusiasm and loud acclaim, He was melted into 
tears. What was the cause and meaning of such 
an outburst, from such a personage, at such a 
time? 

Men sometimes weep for joy over great suc- 
cesses, or when unexpected honors are conferred 
upon them ; but it was not so here. These tears 
were accompanied with words, and they uttered 
only painful lamentation. 

Knowing what was about to happen to Him in 
that city, we might suppose that He was thus 
affected in anticipation of what He was presently 
to endure. Was it then the foresight of the 
treachery of Judas, the mock trials, buffetings, 
and derisions that awaited Him, and the change 



TWENTY- FIRST SUNDAY AFTER TRINITY. 479 

of these loud swelling Hosannas into the horrid 
cry of Crucify him ! crucify him ! Was it that He 
foresaw three crosses raised on Calvary's summit, 
and himself writhing in agony and blood on one 
of them, crucified with thieves and murderers ? 
No, not the remotest allusion to anything of this 
was in His words ; and when the women that fol- 
lowed Him on the way to the cross bewailed and 
lamented Him He said to them, " Daughters of 
Jerusalem, weep not for Me, but weep for your- 
selves and your children." He had no tears to 
shed in view of His own sufferings and death; for 
He knew that the way of the cross was the way to 
the throne. 

Quite another matter was here the burden of 
His thoughts. Before Him stood the beautiful 
city, so sacred for a thousand years, the joy of the 
whole earth, with its walls, and towers, and pal- 
aces, and gold-roofed Temple, — the house of 
prayer for so many generations, — the dwelling- 
place of Jehovah whence He dispensed His favors 
to so many sacred prophets and noble kings and 
sacrificing worshippers, — the city of Israel's solem- 
nities, with its thrones of judgment, the thrones 
of the house of David, and for the peace and pros- 
perity of which the prayers of the devout had 
ascended from age to age. But beautiful as that 
city shone in its sacredness, and history, in that 
morning's bright sunlight, its day of salvation 
was past. By its unbelief and determined rejec- 
tion of the Christ for whom it had been so long 
waiting its doom was sealed. Behind that vision 



480 THE TEARS OF JESUS. 

of beauty and blessed memories there rose another 
scene when those thronged streets should be piled 
with dead; those proud buildings wrapt in flames; 
those sacred spaces resounding with curses, exe- 
crations, and unanswered cries for mercy ; that 
holy temple levelled with the ground ; the Roman 
eagles perched upon those walls ; the Holy of 
Holies abandoned by its God ; the city of David 
reduced to a field of blackened ruins, and its 
myriad population among the unpardoned dead, 
or scattered to the four winds ! And this was the 
soreful contemplation that drew these tears. 

But we must not suppose that it was merely the 
fall of Judea's capital, the overthrow of tower and 
palace and temple, the deportation- and enslave- 
ment of the people of His country, sad and affect- 
ing as this would be to a loving and patriotic 
heart. There was a spiritual ruin in the contem- 
plation that moved Him most of all. It was the 
shutting out of the light of life and salvation to 
the people who had sinned away their day of 
grace by steeling their hearts against the testimo- 
nies and pleadings of the Christ, and were now 
about to crucify their own Messiah. For their 
good He had come into the world, and lived, and 
taught, and wrought ; and for their salvation He 
was about to lay down His life; but they as a 
nation would none of Him, and took upon their 
souls the guilt of His blood. And for their fate 
in eternity, as well as in time, He could not sup- 
press the sad emotions of His loving and tender 
heart. 



TWENTY-FIRST SUNDAY AFTER TRINITY. 48 1 

And of great and solemn moment to us, dear 
friends, are these tears of Jesus. 

They are instructive tears. They tell of His 
tender love and compassion for sinners. He does 
not willingly become a Judge and avenger. It 
hurt and wounded His great soul to see men de- 
termined and set in unbelief and rejection of His 
saving mercy. His Gospel rejected, sends barbed 
arrows into His heart. He weeps to see men 
choose their own misery. 

These tears show us also how gladly He would 
save men if they w 7 ould. He had given these 
people a day of blessed visitation. He had given 
them prophets and the writings of inspired men. 
He had given them the powerful ministry of John 
the Baptist. He had given them the melting in- 
fluence of Incarnate Love. He felt for them; 
else why did He weep ? He was anxious to save 
them ; else why did His tears flow ? Some might 
say, Why, then, did He not save them? The 
answer is, They would not; and because they 
would not, He could ?tot. He could speak worlds 
into being; He could calm the raging storm; He 
could recall the dead to life; but He could not 
save those whose minds and hearts were set against 
their only Saviour. He might have transformed 
them by an edict of His power; but, forced against 
their will and choice, they would no longer have 
been moral beings. And as they were finally 
made up to disown and kill Him, He could not 
save them, and wept over the tragic end they had 
thus sealed upon themselves. 

31 



482 THE TEARS OF JESUS. 

These tears of Jesus are encouraging and con- 
soling tears. The sweet undertone that comes 
from them is, that He cares for us. They preach 
of His profound regard for our welfare, of His 
deep anxiety to have us improve by His merciful 
visitations, and of His unspeakable sorrow for 
those who reject His saving grace. 

There be many hypocritical tears; but Christ's 
were not of that character. He is truth itself. 
They bespeak the genuine feeling of His heart. 
They tell of love that passeth knowledge, and on 
which we can safely trust. They assure us that 
there is ample provision for our eternal peace, if 
only we are willing to take and receive it. They 
prove to us that if w T e perish, it is a thing of 
great pain and sorrow to His heart, and that 
the fault of it is not in Him. They say to us 
that there is a beautiful and blessed life which 
He' is infinitely desirous that we should have, 
which He freely offers, and from which nothing 
but our persistent and stubborn unbelief can ever 
separate us. These are comforting and consola- 
tory truths. They are the very essence of the 
Gospel. And they are all the more clearly cer- 
tified to us by these tears. 

But they are solemnly admonitory tears. They 
tell of a day of gracious visitation, privilege, and 
opportunity; but likewise of a limit to that day. 
The substance of this tearful lament was, that 
these people had had a day which brought to 
them everything belonging to their peace; that 
they did not appreciate it; and that they now had 



TWENTY-FIRST SUNDAY AFTER TRINITY. 483 

reached a point when there was no more hope for 
their city nor for their souls. How solemnly 
therefore do these tears admonish us to beware, 
lest we presume too far, or indulge our indiffer- 
ence and resistance to the calls and offers of mercy 
too long ! There is a line over which grace will 
not follow the transgressor and beyond which 
there is no more salvation. This sore lament of 
Jesus tells us so, and that these Jews as a nation 
had crossed that line. There is no mark by 
which any one can tell just where that line is. 
Death indeed marks it; for there is no repentance 
in the grave nor pardon offered to the dead ; but 
no one knows when he is to- die; and the whole 
matter is often settled and unalterably fixed this 
side of death. There is such a thing as harden- 
ing one's self against light and truth, and a re- 
sistance of the Spirit, until there is no power of 
feeling left, and a condition of judicial blindness 
sets in which seals the sinner's doom. There is 
a sin unto death, when prayers no longer avail. 
There is an obstinacy against the truth, which 
lands one beyond all hope of pardon. God is 
very long-suffering and patient, not willing that 
any should perish; but there is a point at which 
He will no longer keep silence; and all who refuse 
and abuse His merciful compassion are in dan- 
ger of bringing upon themselves irremediable 
condemnation. The time came when there was 
no more salvation for rebellious Jerusalem; and 
Christ's tears over the sad fact should move and 
admonish us not to risk such a fate. 



484 THE TEARS OF JESUS. 

Furthermore, these were awfully foreboding 
tears. Men of great minds do not weep for 
trifles ; and the great and glorious Christ would 
not have been so deeply moved but for something 
transcendently sad and painful. Was it the tem- 
poral calamities that were to come upon His 
country that so affected Him ? Then how much 
more reason for distress over the eternal perdition 
of these doomed people ! What were the devasta- 
tions wrought by the Roman armies compared 
with the wrath to come ! There is something in- 
finitely pitiable in the loss of a soul. It is a fear- 
ful thing to fall into the hands of the living God. 
Nor is there anything that more touchingly tells 
the story than these tears of Jesus over these peo- 
ple who were about to shut the doors of hope and 
mercy against themselves. 

Men may ridicule the doctrine of an eternal 
hell for the wicked and unbelieving ; but what 
could thus move the feelings and draw the tears 
of the Son of God is not a thing to be laughed at 
or disposed of by a shrug of incredulity. Laying 
aside all idea of unquenchable fire, there is quite 
enough in these tears of our Lprd to tell us that it 
is a deep, dark, and unspeakable calamity to be 
forever shut out from the divine favor. People in 
their folly, ignorance, and unbelief may make 
light of it ; but the contemplation of it made the 
very Lord of glory weep. 

And yet again, these tears of Jesus were exem- 
plary tears. They evinced a tenderness of heart 
which we should cultivate, — a deep and loving 



TWENTY-FIRST SUNDAY AFTER TRINITY. 485 

concern for the good and happiness of all creat- 
ures, especially for the salvation of souls. If 
Jesus wept over the dread consequences of abusing 
and rejecting the divine mercies, have we no 
cause for sorrow that we ourselves have so much 
to answer for in this respect ? 

Dear friends, let us try to enter into the mind 
and spirit of our Saviour, that His mind and 
spirit may also live in us. Let us learn to regard 
the things that make for our peace as He regards 
them. Let us learn to grieve and lament over 
the misimprovement of our gracious privileges as 
He sorrows over those who fail to profit by His 
mercies. Let us learn to think and feel over the 
loss of the soul as He thinks and feels. And as 
we would have peace and gladden the Saviour's 
heart, let us not neglect the opportunities of our 
day lest its sun should go down and leave us un- 
helped in that blackness of darkness which moved 
the Son of God to tears. 



5H)e ^xztwumt&s of ILtft. 

Twenty-second Sunday after Tri?iity. 




For a living dog is better than a dead lion. — Eccles. 9 : 4. 

FIND in this text a homely proverb illus- 
trating the value and importance of life. 
In sundry places the author of this book 
speaks disparagingly of earthly life. He 
characterizes it, over and over, as empty, ' vex- 
atious, and vain, — even as vanity itself. But here 
he seems to take a somewhat deeper view, and 
finds, after all, that life is a thing of moment, and 
that even a dog living is better than a lion dead. 

Nearly all creatures have an instinctive love of 
life ; and most people would give up anything 
rather than life. Yet few estimate it as they 
should. Poets particularly have shown great 
aptness to speak lightly of it as a gay, flattering, 
fickle, transient thing, — a bursting bubble, — a 
meteor, — a dream. The Scriptures also speak of 
it as l ' but a vapor that appeareth for a little time 
and then vanisheth away. ' ' And there ai'e aspects 
of it which amply justify these presentations. No 
one can survey life without feeling that it is a 
scene of brief lights and deep shadows — a theatre 
of mingled smiles and tears, joys and sorrows, 



TWENTY-SECOND SUNDAY AFTER TRINITY. 487 

roses and thorns, — which soon disgusts many, and 
in which no one can be long at home. But it has 
other aspects which render it exceedingly impor- 
tant and precious. 

The fact that it is the gift and creation of God 
is reason enough for us to esteem and value it. 
We have in it a very masterpiece of divine power 
and goodness. Beasts, and birds, and flowers, and 
rocks, and waters, can attract and interest people, 
and how much more should we value living man, 
made but a little lower than the angels, crowned 
with glory and honor, and given dominion over 
all creatures around him ! 

There are limitations, and drawbacks, and bur- 
dens in human life; but it sublimely demonstrates 
the existence, intelligence, and goodness of God. 
The form, mechanism, adaptations, beauty, and 
majesty of man's body alone could come only 
from some great Creator, with resources of wisdom 
and excellences to awaken our lasting adoration. 
But with this body is conjoined a rational spirit, 
that cognizes Deity and is related to Godhead as an 
inspiration and a child. People set great store on 
pictures which noted artists paint, and deem it a 
fortune to possess them; but what are they in 
comparison with the living images of the living 
God, which the infinite Master of all arts has pro- 
duced in the endowment and adornment of these 
natures of ours— in the creation of a human life ! 

Important also is human life in view of what it 
can accomplish. Short and precarious as it is, we 
can hardly set limits to what may come of it, even 



405 THE PRECIOUSNESS OF LIFE. 

in this world. Think of the countless arts, crafts, 
trades, industries, pursuits, and professions which 
minister so bountifully to the necessities, conven- 
iences, and comforts of man, the good of society, 
and the happiness of the world. Think of the 
advancement of learning, the achievements of 
science, and the varied gains of human thought, 
handiwork, and adventure, and what all this has 
contributed to the improvement and elevation of 
our race. Think of the play and progress of gifts, 
and talents, and activities, and energies that our 
human life affords, and the multitudinous and 
lofty results ever being turned out from this won- 
derful workshop. Think of the brilliant and 
beneficent triumphs of human genius in the 
mastery and utilization of the forces and powers 
of nature, in the yoking of the fiercest elements 
to our service, in the opening up of ready and 
instantaneous communication with the most dis- 
tant sections of the world, in developments that 
make our times a wonder. And judging from the 
past, it is beyond our power to imagine what all 
may yet come out of this brief and swift-passing 
human life. 

Still more important is human life in its con- 
nection with another world. The death of the 
body is not the end. There is an everlasting Be- 
yond, to which this life is only the vestibule, and 
all the good or ill of that eternal Beyond depends 
on the manner in which we order ourselves while 
on earth. Indifferent as may be the appearances, 
or brief the years of our sojourn here, every step, 



TWENTY-SECOND SUNDAY AFTER TRINITY. 489 

word, or thought echoes through eternity. As 
we conduct ourselves in this life we are filling up 
books of record to tell on our final destiny. Life 
here is a sowing for an eternal harvest, and the 
reaping is always according to the sowing. Our 
present being necessitates a further history on 
which the present must have a conditioning influ- 
ence. The great Maker has created this stage of 
being, and the complex wheels of His providence 
have turned us out upon it, here to work out 
what we are to be hereafter, and we cannot make 
it otherwise. We cannot decline the momentous 
responsibility. It is the inevitable. And hence 
the unspeakable importance of this present life. 

Life is valuable also for the opportunities it 
gives for usefulness. Every calling in life has 
open doors for doing good. ' ' Many find nothing 
to do, because they do nothing to find;" for there 
is no condition in life without scope for moral 
activity and valuable service. Every one has 
some that look to him, lean on him, and take 
from him what influences their thinking and their 
lives. And we thus have opportunity for blessed 
things in our day and generation. 

It is also in this life only that we can develop 
the virtues that most adorn human character. 
Heaven is nc place for the cultivation of patience 
and self-control; or the practice of self-denial; or 
the exercise of forbearance, candor, and courage; 
for there are no trials there, no lusts to mortify, 
no enemies to fight, no ignorance and falsehood 
to combat, no poor and perishing to feed and 



490 THE PRECIOUSNESS OF LIFE. 

save. This world is the only field to grow these 
excellences. 

This life also is the appointed time to secure 
the salvation of the soul. ' ' Behold, now is the 
accepted time; behold, now is the day of salva- 
tion." And when we consider the value of the 
soul, and what all is involved in its eternal salva- 
tion, — the ruin from which it is rescued, and the 
glory to which it is exalted, by living union with 
Him who gave His precious blood for its redemp- 
tion, — it would seem impossible to exaggerate the 
importance of the time allotted us to become par- 
takers of the great salvation. Had life no other 
worth than this, it would still be a boon that calls 
for our everlasting thanksgiving. 

And if perchance one finds himself outside the 
ark of safety, unprepared for death and heaven, 
his life is his period of hope and opportunity 
for a better lot. Even for the unworthiest and 
guiltiest this life furnishes room for repentance, 
for the retrievement of losses, and for the secure- 
ment of eternal deliverance. While there is life 
there is hope, — a chance for happy change. No 
one living is shut out from the possibility of 
being saved, if in earnest to secure that goal. 
Only he who lets this life go by with mercy 
spurned and grace despised puts himself beyond 
hope. 

And the importance and interest which centre 
in this present life, arise from the fact that we 
can never have another like it. Death effectually 
severs from everything now present, and ushers 



TWENTY-SECOND SUNDAY AFTER TRINITY. 49 1 

into quite a different world. This life is one of 
probation; the next will be one of retribution. 
Having misused, abused, and squandered the one, 
there is no other of the sort on which to fall back 
to undo the mischief. There can be no inversion 
of the glass when once the sands of earthly life 
have run out. Though short, uncertain, and pre- 
carious as this life is, when it expires a thousand 
worlds cannot buy back a single moment of like 
privileges and opportunities. That line once 
crossed, the annals of our earthly life pass un- 
changeable into the archives of eternity. — O the 
momentousness of this frail and fleeting mortal 
life ! Despite its days of grief and storm, and 
the gloom which gathers round its close, life is a 
blessing, an infinite blessing to him who views 
and uses it aright. 

What, then, are the inferences to be drawm 
from all this? 

First, if life is a thing of so much value, it is a 
sin wantonly to destroy it, or to expose it to injury 
and peril. " Thou shalt not kill" is the word of 
the Almighty thundered down the rocky side of 
the mount that flamed and trembled under His 
touch. Life is too precious a creation for Him to 
I allow reckless liberties to be taken with it. Ac- 
cording to His law, whosoever lifts a hand against 
a human life lifts it against God himself. And 
yet I find one hundred and seventy-nine thousand 
suicides reported for 1895, and a fearful increase 
of them for all the years since, besides murders 
without number. 



492 THE PRECIOUSNESS OF LIFE. 

Nor is it only the suicide and trie murderer that 
stand chargeable with the sin of trifling with the 
precious gift of life. Wilfully to trample on the 
laws of health, to indulge intemperate excesses, 
recklessly to expose one's self to danger and dis- 
ease, to stint the demands of nature to gain wealth, 
or to subject one's powers to the strains of wasting 
passions and killing toil is to make inroads upon 
life which good sense cannot approve and God 
will never justify. To damage, curtail, or destroy 
another man's life is to rob him of his dearest pos- 
session ; nor is the guilt the less to inflict a like 
injury on one's self. It is wicked in either case; 
for it means destruction to a most valuable gift of 
God. 

Again, if life is so important and precious, great 
is the debt of thankfulness we owe for its preser- 
vation and continuance. Many are the perils to 
which it is exposed, — perils in infancy, perils of 
disease, perils from ignorance and indiscretion, 
perils from the warring elements, perils from acci- 
dents, perils from the indwelling seeds of decay 
and death, perils from the very delicacy of the 
nature God has given us. 

Our life contains a thousand springs, 
And dies if one be gone. 

And that we have thus far lived through all, 
with limbs, and senses and faculties preserved, 
and survived so many that were younger, stronger, 
and seeming to have a firmer hold on life than we, 
demands of us an amount of grateful returns that 



TWENTY-SECOND SUNDAY AFTER TRINITY. 493 

should inflame and occupy us and all our powers 
for all the remainder of our days. 

Furthermore, if life is a thing of so much worth 
and importance, we should be very guarded against 
impatient desire to have it ended. Elijah and 
Jonah prayed that they might die ; but it was 
much to their discredit. And it would have been 
a sad thing for them, as well as for the Church, 
had God visited them as their bad temper prayed. 
It is the part of piety to wait all the days of our 
appointed time until our change come, meanwhile 
making the best we can of our lives, doing with 
our might all that our hands find to do. We are 
enlisted for life ; and to withdraw before getting 
our proper discharge is to act the part of cowardly 
deserters. It is well to be ready to go at any 
time in any way our good Lord may choose; but 
willing to stay, and do, and suffer as He may ap- 
point, thankful that He gives opportunity for us 
thus to add to the jewels of our crown. 

And finally, if life is of such momentous conse- 
quence, no duty or obligation is more urgent or 
binding than to exert ourselves with all diligence 
to use it for its purposes. To trifle with it, — to 
handle it as a price in the hand of fools, — to waste 
and abuse it, — to neglect its precious privileges, — 
is to turn a transcendent blessing into a curse, 
trailing its ever deepening ills through everlasting 
ages. 

Some pervert life to a wicked diabolism, sowing 
seeds of error, spreading snares for the heedless, 
laying stumbling blocks for the blind, taking ad- 



494 THE PRECIOUSNESS OF LIFE. 

vantage of the ignorance and passions of the weak, 
destroying the peace of families, and ruining them- 
selves and all who come under their influence. 

Some degrade life into a mere vulgar animal- 
ism, pursuing whatever natters their senses, grati- 
fies their fancies, and pleases their appetites, hav- 
ing no higher aim than to gratify and serve their 
earthly likings. Theirs is the Epicurean philos- 
ophy, which says, ' ' Eat, drink, and be merry ; 
for to-morrow we die/' 

Many prostitute life to unceasing toils for mere 
worldly ends. They labor day and night, rise 
early and sit up late, and tax themselves to the 
utmost, to win the prizes of earthly ambition, 
fortune, place, power, fame, and notoriety. Thou- 
sands are willing to do anything, spend any 
amount of time, energy, and means, incur any 
inconveniences, take any risks, make any sacri- 
fices, for a title, a ribbon, a gain that cannot 
profit. 

But, dear friends, this boon of life has been 
given us for higher and holier purposes. It was 
a great question of old time, "What is that good 
for the sons of men, which they should do all the 
days of their life?" but after reasoning out and 
experimenting in every direction for an answer, 
Solomon said, " the conclusion of the whole mat- 
ter " is this: "Fear God, and keep His com- 
mandments ; for this is the whole duty of man." 
He who fails on this point, fails in the highest 
purpose of his being, and makes of His existence 
his worst calamity ; for, in proportion as a man 



TWENTY-SECOND SUNDAY AFTER TRINITY. 495 

ignores God and the claims of moral right, he 
mutilates his being, damages his manhood, mars 
his native dignity, and turns his immortality into 
an incurable wretchedness. 

Dear friends, learn and profit by the lesson. 
Value and cherish your life, and see that ye de- 
vote it to its proper ends. Live for God, for 
truth, for usefulness on earth, for the awards of 
eternity. Anchor on the Rock of Ages. L,et 
Jesus be your example and your guide ; and thus 
best live while you live. And beyond the hills 
which bound your present horizon ; beyond the 
stars that look down so lovingly amid these anx- 
ious night watches ; beyond these doubts and 
struggles, aches and ills ; when this world's bloom 
is gone, its pleasures past, its fortunes worthless, 
its chaplets withered, and all its joys are over ; 
there shall still remain for you a realm of light 
and beauty, victory and glory, where they that 
sow to the Spirit shall of the Spirit reap life 
everlasting. 



2H)e Jfruitlesg &xw. 

Twenty-third Sunday after Trinity. 



Behold, these three years I come seeking fruit on this figtree, and 
find none : cut it down : why cumbereth it the ground ? — Luke 13 ; 7, 

iHILB the Saviour has given no explana- 
tion of the parable from which this text 
is taken, there can be no difficulty in 
-^ understanding- what it was meant to 




teach. The ' ' certain man, ' ' stands for God him- 
self. His vineyard is Christendom. This figtree 
is man. 

The Scriptures frequently speak of men as trees. 
It is an apt comparison. A tree is a living growth. 
It has a life peculiarly its own. And it is capa- 
ble of being very useful as well as ornamental. 
In these respects men are like trees. 

But the text speaks of a particular kind of tree 
— a fig iree — one °f the most prized of domestic 
trees in oriental countries. Yet the figtree has 
something unfavorable attending it. The rabbis 
thought it the tree of which Eve and Adam ate 
and so introduced evil into the world. The 
Greeks used it as a symbol of calamity and guilt, 
and hung figleaves on the necks of criminals con- 
demned to death. Even our own word sycophant, 

496 



TWENTY-THIRD SUNDAY AFTER TRINITY. 497 

signifying an obsequious and honeying deceiver, 
literally means one who shows Jigs. It is curious 
that a tree capable of so much good and blessing 
should have such associations. But in this also 
it represents man, who bears with him an unsav- 
ory history. He carries with him a tainted tradi- 
tion. All humanity has about it the story of sin 
and condemnation. 

This figtree was favorably situated. - It was 
planted in a vineyard, — in a select, guarded, and 
cultivated spot, surrounded with every care and 
protection. So it was with the people of Israel. 
And so it is with those who have place in Chris- 
tian lands. We have not been bred in the wilder- 
ness with savages and wild men, but in God's 
own vineyard, — in the very garden-spot of earth's 
best culture and greatest opportunities. Saxon 
blood, — the noblest and the ruling blood of our 
time, — flows in our veins. American homes, — the 
most favorable in the world, — are our homes. 
Protestant Christianity, — the truest and purest 
form of religion on earth, — is our birthright in- 
heritance. Schools, churches, Bibles, preachers, 
printing presses, and all the facilities for moral, 
intellectual, social, and religious growth and pros- 
perity, are everywhere about us, and ever active 
for our culture and improvement. We have had 
our places in the very heart and centre of the best 
of this world. From earliest infancy, light, truth, 
order, and gracious solicitude have surrounded us. 
And the good providence of God has never ceased 
to favor, water, and defend us, as the trees of His 

32 



49& THE FRUITLESS TREE. 

own garden. We have grown up in His vine- 
yard, and have never known anything else. 

It was expected of this tree that it would bring 
forth fruit. It had a nature capable of yielding 
fruit. Its situation was favorable; and it had the 
time and culture to render it fruitful. Hence, its 
owner came year after year seeking fruit thereon. 
It was reasonable td expect to find it. God has a 
right to returns for the favors He has bestowed 
upon us. We have not been the recipients of so 
many gifts of grace and cares of providence for 
no purpose. God looks for us to be wiser, holier, 
and more conformed to truth and righteousness, 
than those who have none of our privileges. He 
expects us to profit by the Gospel, and to make 
just response to His merciful favors. He expects 
us to acknowledge His goodness, to confess His 
Name, and to consecrate ourselves, and all we 
have and are, to His service. The proprieties of 
life, and faithfulness in the various spheres we 
occupy, are in the line of Christian fruitfulness, 
if they spring from faith in the Lord; but that 
is not enough. Having given us His blessed 
Gospel, we are expected to embrace it, to confess 
it, to live by it, and to sustain and further it with 
our means and influence. Having place in His 
Church, we are expected to show fidelity and zeal 
in everything that pertains to its prosperity, and 
to honor our profession by works of faith and 
labors of love. 

This figtree quite disappointed its owner. When 
he sought fruit on it, he found none. For three 



TWENTY-THIRD SUNDAY AFTER TRINITY. 499 

successive years He came; but not a fig was there. 
So it was with the great body of the Jews; and 
so, alas, it is with many in our day. Though 
brought up in God's vineyard, and surrounded 
with all the means and opportunities of fruit- 
fulness, many are barren trees. For years and 
years the Lord has been dealing out to them the 
benefits of His tender care; but no response have 
they ever made. Prayerless and careless have 
they remained under it all, doing nothing for 
God nor for their own souls. Again, and again, 
the Master has come seeking fruit, but finding 
none. Even in the professed Church, amid all 
the sacred services and lavish favors of divine 
goodness, many are as dead and fruitless as if 
they had never known the way of righteousness. 

But exact account of this figtree was kept. 
Every visit was noted. And so God takes no- 
tice and account of every one that has place in 
His vineyard. Many take no account of them- 
selves, and live along as if their indifference were 
nothing. Their golden opportunities, and their 
years of grace and privilege, they let pass without 
improvement. But there is One who has kept 
exact record of it all, and will some day demand 
account for the failure. 

It was no pleasure to the owner of this vineyard 
that his figtree was so unfruitful. Nevertheless he 
was forbearing, wulling to wait and give it full 
opportunity. But at length his patience gave 
out, and his word went forth, ' ' Cut it down, why 
cumbereth it the ground?" 



500 THE FRUITLESS TREE. 

God is very merciful and slow to anger. He 
bears long with the neglectors and abusers of His 
grace. He is not quick to deal harshly with 
people, though so regardless of His favors and 
claims. But let them not suppose that He is 
pleased with them, or that their barrenness is no 
matter to Him. He will not always keep silence. 
The time will come for judgment upon every one 
that continues to disappoint His rightful expecta- 
tions. As the fruitless tree is cut down and cast 
into the fire, so He has said He will deal with 
those who fail to profit by His mercies. There 
will come a sad end for all the barren trees in 
His vineyard. 

Yet this tree was allowed to stand ; — not be- 
canse it deserved to stand, — not because its owner 
was not in earnest in condemning it, — not because 
there was any change of purpose respecting it, — 
but because a gracious and loving gardener inter- 
ceded for it, and pleaded that it might be spared 
one season more, while he would ply it with fur- 
ther efforts to render it fruitful. In this gardener 
we recognize the blessed Christ, who ever pleads 
for poor barren souls. It is only because He 
lives, and pleads, and intercedes that any of us 
are here to-day. Had it not been for Him we 
would long since have been where mercy never 
comes. By His intercessions alone has doom 
been kept away. 

For His sake we have been respited and our 
probation prolonged. On His account we are 
spared and still have chance for salvation, while 



TWENTY-THIRD SUNDAY AFTER TRINITY. 501 

new mercies are added. Who of us can tell what 
thunderstrokes of death and judgment Jesus has 
warded off from us by His gracious intercessions ? 
Who can tell what activities are at this hour 
going on before the throne in heaven by way of 
entreaty for barren souls? Oh, that fruitless 
plantings of the Lord did but see and understand 
how much they owe to that loving Jesus, whose 
word, and Church, and helpful ministrations they 
so belittle, neglect, and often despise ! 

But the respite in this case had its limit. It 
was only for a brief period, to see if betterment 
would come. And so in the case of every barren 
soul. With many it is only for a year. That 
time passed without improvement, the merciful 
intercessor Himself joins in, and says, " Then cut 
it down." Even the Christ cannot defer judg- 
ment upon the negligent and unfruitful beyond a 
certain limit ; and how near to that limit any 
one may be cannot be told. The axe is already 
laid at the root of many a tree, and any moment 
it may strike. This only do we know, that each 
recurring season, each day, each heart-throb 
brings the barren soul so much nearer the time 
when even the merciful Intercessor will say, 
"Cut it downy The last gracious experiment 
will soon be over with some, and nothing but 
prompt and energetic change to a more dutiful 
form of life, now and at once, can save them. 
Presently one, and another, of whom we would 
least expect it, will have reached the boundary, 
their harvest past, their summer ended, and they 



502 THE FRUITLESS TREE. 

not saved. And who can measure the sorrow then 
to be felt? 

Deep and painful is the anguish when a kind 
and loving earthly friend abandons us. Then 
what must it be to be forsaken by the blessed 
Jesus, and left unhelped and unpitied in the 
hands of almighty wrath ! O the regrets and 
griefs that await the undutiful ! 

Dear friends, it is a great and blessed thing for 
us that Providence has given us place in His vine- 
yard and surrounded us with privileges so exalted. 
Bat it is also a very serious thing. The greater 
the favors the more solemn the responsibilities. 
The higher the elevation the more terrible the 
fall. God expects and requires of the trees in His 
garden what He does not expect of those in the 
wilds. How, then, have we been meeting these 
just and reasonable expectations ? 

Alas, of how many has the good L,ord been 
obliged to say, ' ' Behold, these three years I come 
seeking fruit on this figtree and find none!" 
Will He allow such a state of things to continue. 
Consider this, O ye careless and faithless ones? 
and see to it that ye do not press His patience and 
forbearance too far. 

"Wherefore the Holy Ghost saith, To-day if 
ye will hear His voice, harden not your hearts, ' ' 
but ' ' fear, lest a promise being left us of entering 
into His rest any of you should seem to come 
short of it." 



&f)e Host Qtfymtt. 

Twenty-fourth Sunday after Trinity. 




The harvest is past, the summer is ended, and we are not saved. — 
Jer. 8 : 20. 

HIS sad lament the sorrowing prophet 
put into the months of the children of 
Israel, because they had sinned away 
their blessed opportunities and were now 
on the brink of the great captivity. But it is not 
necessary to confine ourselves to the original ap- 
plication of it. The people of Israel were not 
such sinners above all sinners that the same 
plight may not be realized in myriads of others 
in the course of the ages, and in many of our 
own day, or even among ourselves. Nor need 
we more than dwell a little on the wording and 
imagery of the text to find it abundantly sug. 
gestive of some of the most momentous practical 
truths demanding every one's very serious con- 
sideration. 

I. I find it here suggested and clearly set before 
us that the great object to be attained in this life 
is the salvation of our souls. No one was ever 
created to be lost. From the time the Lord called 

503 



504 THE LOST CHANCE. 

Adam to account for his disobedience, a system 
of provisions was instituted, and put in form to 
be transmitted to all his generations, by which to 
come to a knowledge of our wants, and of the 
way to the divine favor and eternal life. If that 
gracious light gradually faded out from the early 
world, it was amply restored when the race started 
on its new beginning in righteous Noah. And if 
the saving light of life was again diminished and 
lost to the nations born of him, it was no fault of 
the Good Lord, who made ample provision for all 
to have and retain the knowledge of Him, so as 
to glorify Him and enjoy His favor for ever. All 
this was still more abundantly true of ancient 
Israel, and especially of those to whom the Gospel 
has since been preached, and who now have the 
light and privileges of His completed revela- 
tions. At sundry times and in divers manners 
God spake in time past unto the fathers by the 
prophets, and in these last days hath He spoken 
unto us by His Son, whom He hath appointed 
heir of all things. He has instituted His Church, 
given the Scriptures, appointed His ministers, 
and set up a complete economy of grace which 
has come to us and all the nations, so that we 
have only to give earnest heed to the things 
which are being preached to us continually, in 
order to find access into the holiest of all. Not 
willing that any should perish, but that all should 
come to repentance and live, a sublime and com- 
petent Saviour has been sent, who has gone 
through the whole work of satisfying for our 



TWENTY-FOURTH SUNDAY AFTER TRINITY. 5 OS 

guilt, and now presents Himself in all His saving 
power and grace to every hearer of the Gospel, 
saying, "Come unto me, all ye that labor and 
are heavy laden, and I will give you rest." Is 
it now asked, ' ' What shall we do that we may 
work the works of God?" His own clear and 
assuring answer is, ' ' This is the work of God y 
that ye believe on Him whom He hath sent." 
"Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou 
shalt be saved." "He that believeth and is 
baptized shall be saved. ' ' And all the ministers 
of the Gospel in all the world are now commis- 
sioned and sent, as Christ's ambassadors, to carry 
His Word of reconciliation to all nations, kindred, 
people, and tongues, and in His stead to beseech 
every one to be reconciled to God, and take the 
redemption purchased by this Saviour's blood. 

From all this it is clear and certain that God 
desires our salvation, and that this is now the 
great object for which He is ever dealing with 
us in this world, and the supreme thing that our 
lives are given us to attain. Missing this we 
miss the goal of our existence. 

II. I find it here suggested and clearly set be- 
fore us, that particular seasons and opportunities 
are given us for securing our salvation. We 
cannot grow and gather our bread in winter. 
We must have the warm and genial summer time 
to give us harvests and appropriate seasons for 
gathering them. The years of grace likewise 
have their seasons, — their summer and harvest 



$06 . THE LOST CHANCE. , 

time, — in which to secure and appropriate the 
bread of life. 

The happiest and most precious summer time 
of grace is the growing and susceptible season of 
youth. The Scriptures are everywhere eloquent 
in their observations upon the great advantages 
of early piety, and the earnest beginning of Chris- 
tian life while the heart is yet tender and unen- 
grossed with the cares and worries of later years. 
Impressions received when we are young strike 
the deepest and last the longest. When almost 
everything else is forgotten the old man still 
recollects the lessons of his youth, and what his 
pious mother taught him when he was a child. 
The little prayers he learned to say while kneel- 
ing at her knee are those which are most present 
to him in his declining days, and serve him best 
as he comes to pass away from earth. Amid all 
the turmoil, and bustle, and strife through which 
he has passed, and by which so much that once 
interested him has been brushed away to oblivion, 
the things which he learned, and felt, and was 
taught to cherish in his early days still retain 
their place and brightness to the last. At no 
other period is the heart so open, so near heaven, 
so capable of receiving sacred truth, so intense in 
the hold which it takes upon right instruction, so 
susceptible of being impressed with what is to 
shape life to the proper standard. The pursuits, 
anxieties, disappointments, and pressing cares of 
maturer life soon tread down the softer sensibili- 
ties, harden the nature, and give a set to the soul 



TWENTY-FOURTH SUNDAY AFTER TRINITY. $°7 

which renders it difficult to move it with anything 
but the calls and interests of this present world. 
As youth's bright season passes away and the 
hard struggles and competitions of business come 
upon us, the probabilities are much diminished 
of ever making the necessary revolution for a 
new start, if we have never before learned to 
seek the Kingdom of God and His righteousness. 
People who have neglected their souls until mid- 
dle life, are far less likely ever to feel again as 
they would have felt, or to succeed as well as 
they would have succeeded, if they had been 
careful to remember their Creator in the days of 
their youth. Each year of neglect and continu- 
ance in unconcern detracts from the likelihood 
of ever embracing that Gospel on which every 
one's salvation hangs. Youth and early life are 
therefore God's special summer time for the fash- 
ioning of the soul to His will, and of imparting 
to it that heavenward impulse by which to secure 
a happy destiny. 

There also comes to every one, at one time 
or another, a season of solemn retrospect and 
thoughtful review, when we are forced to con- 
sider what and where we are, what we are here 
for, and how we have been disposing of ourselves 
and our opportunities ; — times when we are in 
a measure retired from the beaten ways and com- 
mon current of things, — times when by choice or 
otherwise we turn aside a little to the byways, 
nooks, and sequestered spots to meditate, and 
think, and ponder, — times when we get away 



508 THE LOST CHANCE. 

somewhat from our common selves to contem- 
plate and inquire about life, and what we are 
living for, and how it is likely to be with us when 
we have done with earth. These are significant 
and important times, — moments which are moth- 
ers to the most decisive impulses, yea, mothers 
to our eternities. They furnish the pivot-mo- 
ments on which our destiny turns, and on which 
the soul vibrates to take its direction for this 
world and the next. They are the times that 
fashion and decide the under-strata of our whole 
career, and lay the foundations of all that is to 
come of our existence. They are the brooding 
times which shape our lives and determine the 
character of our immortality. They come some- 
times in connection with gre*at disappointments, 
startling events of Providence, sore bereavements, 
bitter losses, or turns of fortune which bring 
our whole course of life to a halt. This is 
a very unsettled and unstable world, and great 
and unexpected events and changes are ever oc- 
curring. With all our care irresistible waves 
break in and turn all our plans and calculations 
upside down, sweeping away upon their boister- 
ous surges all that was fair, beautiful, hallowed 
and promising ; cutting the very ground from be- 
neath our feet, desolating all our proud thoughts, 
and laying all our lofty imaginings in ruins. The 
gourd which has been sheltering our heads is cut 
by some unexpected worm. The tree in whose 
beautiful shadow we have so confidently reposed 
is withered down to its roots. The objects on 



TWENTY-FOURTH SUNDAY AFTER TRINITY. 509 

which the tendrils of the heart were twining them- 
selves give way and disappear, and our souls in 
the agony of their bereavement and desolation are 
compelled to cast about in other directions, and 
to bethink them for quite other orders of things. 
The natural heart may be disposed to view such 
times as only wintry and disastrous ; but they 
are really God's summer times for the bringing 
of us to thoughtfulness and salvation. It is then 
that we are cut loose from the world that has 
been dragging us with it, and that the hard soil 
is softened and torn up for the reception of the 
good seed which God would sow in it for our 
eternal good. It is then that the majesty and 
claims of neglected Heaven come very near and 
press upon us with • solemn force. God is then 
speaking to us with special urgency and power. 
And next to the susceptible season of youth, these 
times are the most favorable seasons for the grow- 
ing and gathering of the blessed harvest of salva- 
tion. If they are left to go by unimproved, or 
only madden the soul against itself or against 
the Lord who rules in all these things, the hope 
of ever being saved is put all the further away, 
and the insensibility is less likely than ever to be 
overcome. If such seasons come and pass, and 
the world again comes back, and life settles once 
more into its old channels, and no salutary change 
is wrought in our aims and character, the chances 
are a thousand to one that so it will continue to 
the end, and salvation be forever lost. 

There also come seasons of special visitations 



5IO THE LOST CHANCE. 

of grace, times of much religious interest in the 
community, times when a particular seriousness 
gathers over people's minds, and thoughts of God, 
judgment, and eternity insinuate themselves even 
into the- most hardened and unwilling. Circles 
of friends, families, or churches are sometimes 
visited with a common sobering of mind, and 
thinking on serious things, and an unusual con- 
cern about the way they have been living and 
doing. One and another is impressed and moved 
to a thorough change, which makes others 
thoughtful and serious. Individuals certainly 
come upon such times. In one way or another 
God's voice comes to them, so that their gayities 
pall, and their souls become restless over their 
long indifference, and their thoughts go forward 
to the setting of summer suns, and the coming 
of autumn tints, and the dropping of autumn 
leaves, and the closing up of life. Eternity rises 
to their view as a solemn reality, and there comes 
a knocking at the heart, a quickening of the 
pulse, and a deep stir in the soul as to how it will 
be with them when death overtakes them, and 
the gravestone marks the place where the earthly 
journey ended. And then it is that "the king- 
dom of God is come nigh," and the Holy Ghost 
is moving about the spirit to win it to the ways 
of righteousness and the better world. These 
also are the precious breezes of God's summer 
time, which no one can afford to despise. 

And so there are other special days and seasons, 
such as birthdays, anniversaries of affecting deaths 



TWENTY-FOURTH SUNDAY AFTER TRINITY. 5 I I 

or events in life, the closing of the year, the be- 
ginning of a new section of time. Such seasons 
have a special power to impress and stir up 
wholesome thoughtfulness over past failures and 
neglects, and to beget new resolves that touch on 
the wants and eternal interests of the soul. Even 
days of festival and rejoicing, times of family re- 
gatherings, thanksgiving days, and Christmas 
times, when children and children's children as- 
semble in the old home, and everything is full of 
cheer and merriment, may serve as occasions to 
beget very serious thinking. In the midst of the 
social joy and happiness, while the eyes are feast- 
ing with the pleasant scene, there comes with the 
gladness the saddening undertone that this picture 
must some day be reversed ; that the time will 
come when those heads so full of bright thoughts 
will toss upon the fevered pillow, those little 
hearts beating with so many glad emotions grow 
still and cold, and the home that rings so joyously 
with merry laughter echo the sighs and lamenta- 
tions of them that weep over lost ones never more 
to return ; — when these patriarchs of the circle 
shall be gone, and other feet tread these patrimo- 
nial halls, and young and old lie in silence be- 
neath the sod. All these and such like may be 
fitly called the summer time of sacred impression 
and holy impulse to move the soul and bring it 
into saving harmony with God. 

The summer time of grace is not necessarily 
confined to such seasons. In a wider and more 
general sense that summer time is life, and takes 



512 THE LOST CHANCE. 

in the whole period of our stay on earth. But 
when we deduct the years of unconscious infancy, 
and the time we necessarily spend in unconscious 
sleep, and the times when w T e are thoughtlessly 
carried along with the drift of things about us, 
and the times when we are absorbed and taken up 
with the pursuits and pleasures of life, and the 
years already gone, and the uncertain years of the 
future which may never come, our summer time 
for working the works of God and gathering our 
harvest for eternity is after all very limited, and 
the times I have named make up almost the entire 
sum. Neglecting these we neglect all our main 
chances, and probability rises to almost certainty 
that we never shall see salvation. This harvest 
past, and this summer ended, without recovery 
from listlessness and indifference to heavenly 
things, there is poor chance that matters will ever 
be any better with us. 

III. Furthermore, I find it here suggested and 
distinctly set before us that the period of grace 
must one day come to an absolute termination. 
The harvest cannot last all the year. Long and 
genial as the summer may be, it must end. And 
it always ends sooner than w r e calculate. How 
long has it been since June set in, and people in 
general were busy with their plans how to order 
themselves and their vacations for the summer ? 
But June was quickly gone, and July hasted past, 
and August suns soon rose and set no more, and 
September was here almost before we thought ; 



TWENTY-FOURTH SUNDAY AFTER TRINITY. 5 1 3 

and presently the sun crossed the line, and nature 
began to show the sear and yellow leaf. And 
now the bare branches and the chill winds tell of 
the ending year. A true picture this of the way 
it is with the season of grace and salvation. It 
comes upon us as by stealth, before we are half 
prepared for it. We are apt to think, ' ' Oh, life 
is long, — it is time enough, — there will be plenty 
of opportunity. ' ' But presently the June of youth 
is past, and the main harvest time is over. Then 
come the languid days of midsummer, when the 
burdens and oppressions of life hang heavy upon 
us. And then come the busy times of approach- 
ing autumn ; and the summer limit is reached 
before we have had time to consider. Presently 
the last note is sung ; the last act of the drama is 
performed ; the clock of eternity strikes ; the cur- 
tain falls; the last pulse trembles in the heart; the 
summer is ended, the harvest past, and all the 
opportunities of this world are gone forever ! 

Who will dispute the facts as I state them ? In 
whose experience and observation do they not 
find an echo? 

But even apart from the termination of life, 
which may occur at any time in any case, the 
summer time of spiritual blessing and opportunity 
may come to a speedy close. God will not always 
wait on those who only waste their time and abuse 
His long suffering. His offers persistently un- 
heeded are ever liable to be withdrawn and taken 
back. It was a fearful sentence pronounced upon 
the old world, when God "said, "My Spirit shall 



5 14 THE LOST CHANCE. , 

not always strive with man, ' ' and on the heels of 
mercy neglected and misimproved came summary 
and awful judgment. It was a fearful message 
sent to the rebellious and unfaithful Jews: "Be 
thou instructed, O Jerusalem, lest my soul depart 
from thee." And it is one of the settled princi- 
ples of the divine government: "He that, being 
often reproved, hardeneth his neck shall suddenly 
be cut off, and that without remedy." Every in- 
stance in which the soul deliberately puts from it 
the clear and evident calls of God and stifles con- 
viction for the following of its own self-chosen 
ways is a step toward that fatal line at which the 
divine word says, "Ephraim is joined to his idols; 
let him alone." And when once the Holy Spirit 
is thus grieved away from the soul the ministries 
of grace cease from their effect. Man stands then 
as a dead tree upon which the sun rises and sets, 
and the seasons come and go, but there is no more 
living response to the heavenly beams. Then al- 
ready, even in this present life : ' ' The harvest is 
past, the summer ended, and the soul is not 
saved. ' ' 

But barring all such calamity, the time is com- 
ing, and may be near at hand, when our whole 
history on earth will reach a perpetual end. 
When we begin to live we also begin to die. We 
are all like travellers passing through a land for 
the last time ; every step leaves so much behind 
never to be seen again, and brings us so much 
closer to the moment when the whole terri- 
tory will recede from us for ever. And how 



TWENTY-FOURTH SUNDAY AFTER TRINITY. 5 1 5 

will it then be with the frivolous and unthought- 
ful who have spent their precious youth pursuing 
the butterflies of worldly pleasure, and their riper 
years in scrambles and strifes for the honors, 
riches, and emoluments of earth, and held at bay 
through all their course all claims of God and 
serious religion ! What will it avail for any one 
to say, "I have been reared in a pious home; I 
have brought up my family in respectability and 
comfort ; I have labored hard and diligently to 
secure an honorable living ; I have conducted an 
honest business ; I have secured a competency for 
those dependent on me ; I have received the ap- 
plause, respect, and esteem of all that knew me ; 
I have never blotted my record with base crimes 
and wicked habits ; I have much goods lawfully 
acquired, and have given an example to the world 
of probity and good citizenship;" if with all it 
must be added, "but I have neglected God and 
my soul ; I have favored religion, but never made 
it my own ; I have supported the Church, but 
always put off becoming a faithful member of it 
myself; and now I must die as I lived, the harvest 
past, the summer ended, and I not saved ! 

IV. And yet again, I find it here suggested and 
distinctly set before us, that if ever we are saved 
at all we must faithfully and promptly embrace 
and improve the seasons of grace which God in 
mercy sends us. If any of you are yet in the 
morning of life, see to it that you do not let it 
pass without earnestly seeking the kingdom of 



5 l6 THE LOST CHANCE. 

God and His righteousness. It is of all times 
God's own chosen time for coming under the con- 
ditions for a good and pious life. Letting this go 
by unimproved, you let go the very best chance 
you can ever have, and it may be your only 
chance. And if that precious season has already 
gone without making you a child of God, by all 
the store you set on a blessed . eternity do not 
neglect your present opportunities. Now while 
you have health and reason, — now while you 
hear the whisperings of the Spirit urging you not 
to neglect so great salvation, — now while you yet 
can feel the motives and influences given to bring 
you into the fold of Christ, — now that the evil day 
has not yet overtaken you, nor the years when 
you will have gone too far to retrace your steps, — 
now while the doors of mercy stand open to you, 
and you feel almost persuaded to enter, — let noth- 
ing come in to keep you back, lest the harvest 
pass, the summer end, and you be left without 
part or portion with the saved. 

In everything there is the utmost importance 
attaching to the favorable moment. 

There is a tide in the affairs of men 

Which, taken at the flood, leads on to fortune; 

Omitted, all the voyage of their life 

Js bound in shallows and in miseries. — 

On such a full sea are we now afloat ; 

And we must take the current when it serves, 

Or lose our ventures. 

And so there are crises in our lives, — moments 
pregnant with vast results, — which, promptly 



TWENTY-FOURTH SUNDAY AFTER TRINITY. 5 I J 

seized, become the turning-points of everlasting 
triumph, but which, if left to pass, bring irre- 
mediable failure. Present opportunities neglected 
can never return. Once lost, they are gone for 
ever. Others may come, but never can fully re- 
pair all the disadvantages of having let the first 
go unimproved. The great matter is to seize 
the favorable moment as it comes, and work and 
gather when the harvest and the summer are upon 
us, lest we miss our chance, and find, with all our 
good intentions, that we are too late, too late. 
If ready to meet religious duty now, it may still 
not be altogether too late. But be assured that 
a course of indifference and procrastination cannot 
go on without limit. Some of these passing days 
the sun of mercy will have crossed the line, the 
clock have struck the hour of harvest past, the 
summer ended. And what if you should then be 
found ^ not saved " all your opportunities closed, 
the ship of your salvation gone, and nothing 
left but the agonizing lament — " Too late! Too 
late"? 



&eal (or ©ntr. 

Twenty-fifth Sunday after Trinity. 




And he said, Come with me, and see my zeal for the Lord. — 2 
Kings 10: 16. 

'1EAL, is a very important thing in human 
life. It is to man what fire is to a steam 
engine. However perfect the machinery, 
it is but little worth without heat to 
drive it into action. Zeal is heat, ardor, earnest- 
ness, energy, — the passion which we throw into 
what we undertake. A man without zeal is a 
drone, a clog, a burden, a blot. He wins no ap- 
plause; he excites no pity; he accomplishes no 
good. If he has talents they are buried, and not 
always in a napkin. He may count in the census, 
but he is a mere cipher of existence. The world 
scarcely knows that he is in it, except for what 
he consumes; and were he to die to-morrow, it 
would be no worse off from his absence. 

The sentence which fell upon man at the be- 
ginning requires the eating of our bread in the 
sweat of our brows; and, without energy in busi- 
ness and a vigorous and persevering putting of 
our hands to do with our might what we find to 
do, life must be a failure. No work, no bread; 

518 



TWENTY-FIFTH SUNDAY AFTER TRINITY. 5 19 

no zeal, no manly success. This is the law of 
things in this present world. 

And of all things in which to be zealous, zeal in 
our religion, — "zeal for the I^ord," — needs to be 
vigorous and strong. Were it possible to be luke- 
warm in everything else and not suffer, to be 
lukewarm in this admits of no excuse, and has 
upon it the disgust and condemnation of God. 
Jesus has said from heaven : u I would thou wert 
cold or hot. So then because thou art lukewarm, 
and neither cold nor hot, I will spew thee out of 
my mouth." Above all things it is required of 
us to "be fervent in spirit, serving the L,ord." 
All the examples which the Scriptures most com- 
mend are such as Phineas, and David, and Elijah, 
and Josiah, and Hezekiah, and Apollos, and Paul, 
and Kpaphras, who were distinguished in nothing 
more than in the intense fervor shown for God, 
His worship, and His truth. Jesus has left an ex- 
ample for all believers to follow; and in prophecy 
as in its fulfillment He is represented as the one 
who could say, "The zeal of Thine house hath 
eaten me up." And very hard it is to see how 
anyone can be a right man, much less a right 
Christian, without close imitation of those who 
showed themselves "very zealous for the Lord 
of hosts." 

But zeal of itself is an imperfect virtue. Even 
when contemplating the true God and the true 
service of God it may go very far astray. It may 
exist in flaming warmth, and exert itself with 
tremendous power, and still not make the man 



520 ZEAL FOR GOD. 

in whom it burns a true and accepted servant of 
the Lord. It needs the guidance of wisdom and 
the regulation of other principles. Paul had as 
much zeal while a Pharisee as he had after he 
became a Christian; but it made of him a bloody 
monster in the one case, and a very messenger of 
life and salvation in the other. The Jews of his 
time had a zeal for God, but not according to 
knowledge. And so it has been in very many 
instances: Tyrants and popes, Councils and In- 
quisitions, zealots and bigots, have murdered 
millions on millions of people better than them- 
selves, and made their history a shame and scan- 
dal in the earth. No one can be a true servant 
of God without zeal; but zeal alone can never 
make a man a saint. There must be something 
to qualify and direct it, or it becomes a blasting 
ruin and disgrace. 

Nor need we go further than the man who 
spoke the text, to see wherein zeal, even with 
a good and holy cause, may be so tainted and 
intermixed with other qualities as to make its 
possessor a monster and a reprobate. 

Jehu was sacredly called and anointed to be the 
King of Israel in place of the infamous and idol- 
atrous seed of Ahab and Jezebel, all of whom 
he was divinely commissioned to smite and de- 
stroy. He undertook the work with daring en- 
ergy, and this he called his "zeal for the L/ord," 
which he invited Jehonadab to come with him to 
see. It was right that he should follow the com- 
mands God had Qriven him. It was right that he 



% TWENTY-FIFTH SUNDAY AFTER TRINITY. 52 1 

should bring all his power to bear against idols 
and idolatry. It was right that he should set 
himself to recover his country from the base apos- 
tacy which Jezebel and Ahab had induced. And 
so far his zeal was in accord with the revealed 
will of heaven and in the path of duty. But it 
was after all a zeal which brought little credit or 
good to himself, and eventually called down 
divine judgment on his house. 

Note, then, the particulars in which this man's 
zeal was faulty and thus learn to direct our own 
aright. 

Jehu's zeal was tainted with a ferocious cruelty. 
It was his business, as the administrator of the 
laws of Israel, to make an end of that infamous 
woman Jezebel, whose impieties and crimes bereft 
her of every right to life and every plea of com- 
passion ; but it was not his business to enact to- 
ward her the wanton barbarity of the savage, to 
have her cast unwarned from the window of her 
palace, to trample her body under the feet of his 
horses, to drive his chariot over her mangled 
frame in the public streets, and to let her bones 
lie in the highway for the dogs to crunch. It 
was his business" to execute Jehoram, who had 
forfeited all title to allegiance ; but it was not his 
business to encounter the doomed and wounded 
monarch with such harsh and cruel taunts, to 
shoot him down like a dog, and to cast him out 
unburied where Naboth's blood was spilled. It 
was his business to put out of the way the seventy 
princely scions of Ahab's house ; but it was not 



522 ZEAL FOR GOD. 

his business to do it with such cruel treachery, to 
have their heads carried in baskets from Samaria 
to Jezreel, and to stack them in heaps by the city 
gates as a public show. And it was also his busi- 
ness to bring down the power of BaaPs priests and 
worshippers; but it was not his business to de- 
ceive them with such atrocious hypocrisy to such 
a horrible slaughter. 

Thus Jehu's "zeal for the Lord " was savagely 
ferocious. It lacked charity, and hence was not 
a genuine zeal for God. True zeal, like the heav- 
enly wisdom of which it is born, " is first pure, 
then peaceable, gentle, easy to be entreated, full 
of mercy and good fruits, without partiality, and 
without hypocrisy." It is not indeed a mawkish 
sentimentalism, which cannot bear to give pain 
or punish the guilty. There must be vigorous 
firmness to discharge every duty, no matter how 
painful. What God commands, it must have the 
nerve to do without fear or favor. But it must 
likewise be tempered with reason and humanity. 
We cannot acceptably serve God while we outrage 
all considerations of justice, whether in word or 
deed. Needless severity and harshness, even to 
the unworthiest and guiltiest, is wrong, and be- 
trays a spirit which is not of God. Right zeal 
cannot compromise with untruth or unrighteous- 
ness. It belongs to its nature to hate, abhor, and 
fight sin in all its forms ; but not so as to play the 
savage or the brute toward the sinner. A man is 
still a fellow man, however far he may be out of 
the way ; and the obligations of a common creat- 



TWENTY- FIFTH SUNDAY AFTER TRINITY. 523 

urehood hold with reference to his person, how- 
ever necessitated by law and righteousness to con- 
demn and punish his. crime. 

Jehu's zeal was further marred by a vain-glori- 
ous, proud, and ostentatious spirit. A true and 
vigorous zeal certainly involves publicity. A man 
cannot be an earnest, faithful, and enterprising 
servant of God without putting himself before the 
eyes of others. Though he may not court obser- 
vation or applause, he cannot retire from notice, 
and do all his work in secret. Nor could Jehu 
fulfill the duties imposed upon him without very 
marked public demonstrations. But his address 
to Jehonadab showed far more arrogance and 
swelling pride than genuine piety. He did not 
say, Come, counsel with me, that I may make no 
mistakes in these peculiar duties ; or, Come, help 
me carry through my solemn and painful commis- 
sion with due humility, gratitude, and godly fear; 
but he set himself up as the grand hero, and 
said, Come, behold me, admire me, witness the 
grand things that I am doing, and see if the 
like of me was ever in Israel. Here was vanity, 
conceit, and a vaunting self-consequence and 
self-assertion, wholly out of place in a true man 
of God. 

True religious zeal does not thus sound a trum- 
pet before it. It vatinteth not itself. Neither 
does it depend on human admiration and praise 
to perpetuate its efforts. It does not work to be 
seen of men, and is not eager for earthly pane- 
gyrics. It lives to God rather than to men, and is 



524 ZEAL FOR GOD. 

ever modest in what it claims for itself, knowing 
that at best it is but an unworthy servant. 

There were no classes of peo'ple whom the 
Saviour condemned with greater severity than 
those religionists of His time who sought the chief 
seats in public assemblies, the uppermost rooms 
at feasts, and thanked God that they had not the 
faults and weaknesses of other men. And so 
there be many still who are never to be seen ex- 
cept on great occasions, who will not serve if they 
cannot lead, who must be petted, and pampered, 
and pleased, and admired, or their activity and 
devotion all goes from them, and who seem to 
think that everything is going to rack and ruin 
unless they are at the helm. But all such zeal is 
Pharisaism, born of the vanity and depravity of 
man, and not of the Spirit of God. And all who 
take to religion and its activites for show and 
self-importance, and use the plea of "zeal for 
the Lord" to win admiration, favor, or public 
notoriety for themselves, are mere Jehus, cor- 
rupt in mind and destitute of the living power 
of the truth. 

And a yet further defect in Jehu's zeal was its 
lack of moral principle and honest consistency. 
Good ends can never justify wicked means. No 
earnestness of pious endeavor can ever supersede 
the laws of eternal morality. A man cannot lie, 
and deceive, and play the foul trickster, even for 
the success of a good cause or the glory of God, 
without compromising his virtue and his saint- 
ship. Jesuitism is devilism, no matter how it 



TWENTY-FIFTH SUNDAY AFTER TRINITY. 525 

may varnish or disguise itself. It is specially for- 
bidden to do evil that good may come. But this 
is just what tainted the sudden zeal of Jehu. He 
adopted the most perfidious deceit, falsehood, and 
hypocrisy to destroy the worshippers of Baal ; and 
when his treacherous butchery of them was over 
his devotion to the true worship was after all so 
weak, suspicious, and self-seeking that he refused 
to make common cause with it as established at 
Jerusalem, and set up "the golden calves of 
Bethel and Dan," saying, " These be thy gods, O 
Israel!" 

The zeal that would honor God, and that God 
honors, must in all things obey God. It cannot 
transgress one commandment under plea of devo- 
tion to another. It cannot serve righteousness by 
adventuring into wickedness. A heart that can 
deceitfully proclaim the glory of Baal, even though 
meant for Baal's destruction, is too rotten to be 
trusted for Jehovah, and will just as soon deify 
golden calves when that suits its purposes. If we 
would serve God, we must serve Him honestly, 
truthfully, consistently. It w 7 ill not do to be 
zealous to pull motes out of the eyes of others, 
while beams are sticking in our own ; or to be 
strict in tything mint, anise, and cummin, while 
the weightier matters of the law, judgment, mercy, 
and faith, are trampled under foot. Of what use 
can it be to our estate with God, outwardly to ap- 
pear righteous unto men, while inwardly full of 
hypocrisy and iniquity? What credit is it to 
strain to put down one evil while exemplifying 



526 ZEAL FOR GOD. 

another ? What virtue is there in fighting for a 
cause which we are ready to compromise on the 
first temptation? An old bishop has said, "No 
zeal is right which is not charitable;" and we 
may add with equal point, No zeal is right which 
is not thoroughly moral. I once knew a man 
who was never so earnest a Christian as when he 
was a little drunk ; but such a zeal is a thing of 
disgust both to God and man. 

True zeal is the outbirth of a pure and holy 
spirit. It is not a romantic sentiment that glows 
only while the glamour lasts. It is not an affec- 
tation, put on from without, and having no coun- 
terpart in the qualities of the soul. It is not a 
mere sympathetic furore, caught from others, as 
the coward also rushes into battle, and as the 
multitude runs without knowing why. It is not 
a mere galvanism of the spirits, artificially 
wrought up for some special emergency, which 
subsides or changes when the spurt is over. It is 
a living principle, grounded in the heart, fed and 
sustained by conviction and love of right, which 
lives to the truth and eye of God, and is a vital 
part of the inmost character of the man, in sun- 
shine and in shade. It is a live coal from the 
heavenly altar, which cleanses and purges while 
it animates the soul, and makes it warm and 
ready to answer to every call of God, " Here am 
I ; send me." It is not the spirit of party, the 
impulse of self, the mere influence of association, 
the obstinacy of a favorite scheme, the endurance 
of a proud nature, the carnal thirst for applause, 



TWENTY-FIFTH SUNDAY AFTER TRINITY. 527 

the greed for personal aggrandizement ; but that 
spirit of faith which led Moses to choose suffering 
with the people of God rather than to enjoy the 
temporary pleasures of sin, esteeming the reproach 
of Christ greater riches than all the treasures in 
Egypt. It is true religion made living and potent 
in the soul, which consecrates the whole man, 
with all his powers and for all his days, to the 
humble, patient, unswerving, and unabridged 
devotion to God and duty, trusting in Him 
whose is the kingdom, and the power, and the 
glory. 

And this, dear friends, is what I am here to 
inculcate. A word from the eternal throne has 
come forth to every one of us. It tells of a God 
to be honored, a cause to be served, wrongs to be 
righted, and great things to be achieved; and 
that we are here for the purpose. There is no 
room for doubt as to the part meant for us to 
take. What response, then, have we given to 
the heavenly message? How have we been 
answering to the word and anointing of Jehovah? 
Many live and act as if there were no God, no 
prophets by Him commissioned, no word from 
heaven for them to obey. But life was not given 
for such inanition. 

Many have had the anointing of holy Baptism, 
consecrating them to a life of faith and activity 
for God, who slumber in sin, and live along in 
dead inertia toward their sacred calling, as if they 
had no souls to do for, no Christ to serve, no work 
for Him, no account to render at the last. "Woe 



528 ZEAL FOR GOD. 

to the rebellious children, saith the Lord, that 
take counsel, but not of Me; and that cover with 
a covering, but not of My Spirit!" And even 
of those who have sworn unto the Lord, and laid 
their vows upon His altar, how many are as in- 
different as if the cause of God and righteousness 
were scarcely to be distinguished from the gay 
and idolatrous world? If ever they were earnest 
and ardent in their profession, they have left their 
first love. Their ardor has lost its flame. Their 
zeal is dead. Some are vain enough to think 
themselves rich, and increased with goods, and 
needing nothing; and know not that they are 
wretched, and miserable, and poor, and blind, 
and naked. Alas, what fresh quickening from 
on high do all such people need ! Nay, what 
spiritual revival do we all need, to make us such 
Christians as we ought to be ! 

The great thing required for the Church of our 
times, both in its leaders and in its people, is a 
new baptism of fire, to kindle and warm them 
into a pure and living zeal for God, as against 
the idolatries, apostacies, shams, and lies which 
everywhere infest society, and are fast dragging 
this present world to its destruction. And the 
way to get it is, for each one individually to turn 
unto the Lord his God with vigorous energy and 
devotion, to repent out of all existing deadness, 
and to join the life of a Christian with the name. 
What our hands find to do, we must do. And 
with each one ready and thirsting to do the will 
of God, and to serve Him with an undivided 



TWENTY-FIFTH SUNDAY AFTER TRINITY. 529 

heart, there will be no lack of genuine zeal for 
the Ivord of hosts. God help us to be true and 
faithful to our calling, that we may be His in the 
great day. 

Work for the good that is nighest ; 

Dream not of greatness afar ; 
That glory is ever the highest 

Which shines upon men as they are, 

Work, though the world would defeat you; 

Heed not its slander nor scorn ; 
Nor weary till angels shall greet you 

With smiles through the gates of the morn. 

Offer thy life on the altar ; 

In the high purpose be strong ; 
And if the tired spirit should falter, 
Then sweeten thy labor with song. 
34 



Twenty-sixth Sunday after Trinity. 




And He said unto them, Verily I say unto you, That there be some 
of them that stand here, which shall not taste of death, till they have 
seen the Kingdom of God come with power. — Mark 9:1. 

"HE years come and go. This is the 
last Sunday in the annual round of our 
Church seasons. After to-day the whole 
Church year will be numbered with 
the past. Everything in nature around us, — the 
faded and falling leaves, the shortening days, and 
the waning of the sun's power, — also reminds us 
of an approaching termination of our sojourn on 
earth. 

It is fitting, therefore, that we should cast our 
thoughts forward to what is beyond, and inquire 
about what is to come after we have done with 
this present world. In this the text, and that to 
which it specially refers, can serve us well, and 
help to throw much blessed light upon what to 
many is very dark and dim. 

Jesus here speaks of seeing " the Kingdom of 
God come with power." The same is spoken of 
in Matthew as seeing "the Son of Man coming 
in His Kingdom." And in Luke the same is 
described as seeing u the Kingdom of God." 

530 



TWENTY-SIXTH SUNDAY AFTER TRINITY. 5 3 1 

This Kingdom has different stages: the King- 
dom in embryo, and the Kingdom finally com- 
plete, — the Kingdom in Spirit as it now exists, 
and the Kingdom in full manifestation as it is 
to be hereafter, — or what is otherwise called the 
Kingdom of grace, and the Kingdom of glory. 
It is of the latter, or the Kingdom as hereafter 
revealed, when the L,ord Jesus will come again, 
that is here spoken of. The coming of the King- 
dom "with power" and the coming of u the Son 
of Man in His Kingdom" invisible manifesta- 
tion, as here phrased, sufficiently prove that the 
reference is to the Kingdom as it is to be when 
Christ shall come the second time. 

Now three of the Evangelists tell us that the 
Saviour solemnly announced to His disciples, 
shortly before His Passion, that some of them 
should not taste of death till they had seen this 
kingdom. How then, when and where did they 
see it? as the great day had not come in their 
lifetime. The answer to this question is given in 
the record of what occurred soon after this saying 
of the Saviour. And there we read : — "After six 
days, Jesus taketh Peter, James, and John his 
brother, and bringeth them up into an high 
mountain apart to pray. And as He prayed the 
fashion of His countenance was altered, and His 
face did shine as the sun, and His raiment was 
white as the light, so as no fuller could white 
them ; and there appeared unto them Moses and 
Klias in glory, talking with Jesus, and spake of 
His decease which He should accomplish at Jeru- 



532 THE GLORIOUS BEYOND. 

salem ; and Peter, and they that were with Him, 
saw His glory, and the two men that stood with 
Him." 

True, this was not the Kingdom in its final con- 
summation ; but it was a living picture and ex- 
hibit of it, in which these men saw the Son of 
man coming in His kingdom, and from which we 
may see the chief features of that kingdom in its 
ultimate completion. For whatever else the scene 
of the Saviour's Transfiguration may have been 
intended to subserve, it was a picture, earnest, and 
showing of the Kingdom as it will be when com- 
plete. The disciples were to "see the Son of man 
coming in His kingdom" before they died, and 
we search through their history in vain for any- 
thing answering to the description, save this 
scene of the Transfiguration. Peter also distinctly 
identifies this scene as an exhibit of " the power 
and coming of the Lord Jesus Christ. ' ' And all 
the features and surroundings of the case assure 
us that it was meant to be a pictorial illustration 
of the great redemption work in its final outcome. 

What, then, may we learn from it touching the 
estate and condition of things when our Saviour 
comes again, as He has foretold? 

It shows the exalted character of the kingdom 
as far above the common world. The exhibit 
was on "a high mountain," and in Scripture, as 
in nature, mountains connect with heaven and 
the divine. "All that expands the spirit, yet 
appals, gathers round their summits." They 



TWENTY-SIXTH SUNDAY AFTER TRINITY. 533 

tower above the smoke and stir of this lower 
world, and seem to be joined with, as they image 
the eternal Almightiness. And thus lofty, heav- 
enly, glorious, and joined to eternity is the king- 
dom of Christ when once it comes to its full reve- 
lation. For u the mountain of the L,ord's house 
shall be established in the top of the mountains 
and shall be exalted above the hills." 

This scene also shows us Jesus in His proper 
excellency. He was still a man, as He always 
will be ; but a transfigured, glorified, metamor- 
phosed man, — a man arrayed in the glory of 
Divinity. " His face did shine as the sun." His 
very garments glowed with burning brightness. 
And so intense and transcendent was the splendor 
that permeated and enveloped Him that the Evan- 
gelists seem at a loss for words and images to de- 
scribe it. They pile together the most expressive 
terms and figures, and then seem to feel as if they 
had only half told the sublime reality. And so it 
is that He is said to appear in the great consum- 
mation. He is then to come in His glory. The 
promise is that we shall then ' ' see the King in 
His beauty ; ' ' and here was the exhibit and illus- 
tration of that beauty and glory with which ( * He 
shall come to be glorified in His saints, and to be 
admired of all them that believe. ' ' 

The same also shows us the reality of another 
life for those who believe in Him. We look into 
the cold, damp, and dreary grave, and hear the 
sad consignment of ' ' earth to earth, ashes to 
ashes, and dust to dust," and in trembling and 



534 THE GLORIOUS BEYOND. 

doubtful wonderment we ask, u If a man die, 
shall he live again?" But this scene of the 
Transfiguration answers the question with posi- 
tive demonstration. Men long departed from this 
world were there. Moses, the servant of God, 
who had died in Moab's mountain more than one 
thousand years before, was there. Ages had 
passed since God laid his body to rest ; yet here 
he was, living and speaking. Elijah had been 
caught away from earth for more than eight hun- 
dred years ; yet here he was, in living companion- 
ship with Moses and Christ, and seen and heard 
by the three disciples who witnessed the scene. 
To pass away from this life, then, is not sinkage 
into oblivion or nothingness. The departed still 
have place and life, though the places that once 
knew them know them no more. 

And the same tells of the estate and condition 
of God's departed servants when once the King- 
dom is complete. Paul gives it as the Lord's own 
word: that when He shall come with the voice of 
the archangel and the trump of God, "the dead 
in Christ shall rise first : then we [believers] 
which are alive and remain shall be caught up 
together with them in the clouds, to meet the 
Lord in the air : and so shall we be ever with the 
Lord." And here is the living illustration of it. 
Here is Moses, representing the saints who have 
died, and Elijah representing those of them who 
never die at all ; both of them "in glory," both 
of them with Christ in near and familiar con- 
verse, not only beholding, but sharing His glory. 



- TWENTY-SIXTH SUNDAY AFTER TRINITY. 535 

What may be between death and the resurrection 
we are not told ; but the word is that when our 
Saviour comes in His kingdom He will "change 
our vile body, that it may be fashioned like unto 
His glorious body ;" and here was the exhibit of 
the fact accomplished. These ancient saints were 
in the same glory and heavenliness of the trans- 
figured Jesus. David looked forward to a time 
when he would awake in Jehovah's likeness ; and 
here is the showing of what he anticipated. 

We sometimes wonder whether the saints in 
glory have any knowledge of or interest in what 
is going on in this world ; and on that also this 
Transfiguration scene throws some rays of light. 
Moses and Elijah certainly knew about Christ's 
mission and work in the world, and the sort of 
termination it was to have ; for this was the one 
great subject of their conversation, as heard by 
the disciples. The record is, that they "spake 
of His decease which He should accomplish at 
Jerusalem." And if these men knew of Christ's 
doings, and what was about to happen to Him, 
they must have been in condition to know more 
of what was going on in the world. Why, then, 
should we think that saints in glory have lost all 
recollections or knowledge of earthly affairs, and 
all interest in what most enlisted them while 
here? 

The question is sometimes asked, Shall we 
know each other in heaven ? This, too, the scene 
of the Transfiguration would seem to answer. 
Moses and Elijah knew Christ and must have 



536 THE GLORIOUS BEYOND. 

known each other, and were known and recog- 
nized by Peter, James, and John. And if those 
who had never seen nor known each other in this 
world could so readily be identified, shall we not 
be able to recognize those whom we have seen, 
and known, and loved ? 

People generally have very crude notions as to 
what is to become of the earth when Christ comes. 
Some think it will be utterly annihilated, stricken 
out of existence, or turned into some tenantless 
and indescribable desolation. But this showing 
of the Kingdom tells a very different story. The 
earth with its mountains and valleys still was 
there, though with Christ and His glorified ones 
over and above it. And there were the represent- 
atives of its population in the flesh, in the persons 
of Peter, James, and John. Their place was high 
above the common world. They were chosen 
men, set apart and consecrated unto the L,ord. 
Christ and the saints in glory were in view when 
they were rightly awake, and the manifestations 
and testimonies to them from the heavenly orders 
were full of blessedness. And so there will be a 
redeemed and sanctified race upon the earth after 
Christ comes in His Kingdom. The earth, like 
all the ordinances of heaven, is made to abide for 
ever. The curse that is now upon it for man's 
sin will be lifted off ; but it will not be denuded 
of population. It was made to be inhabited, and 
its inhabitants then will be a redeemed human- 
ity, as here represented. It will not be the home 
of the elect and glorified ; for they shall be like 



TWENTY-SIXTH SUNDAY AFTER TRINITY. 537 

the angels, and in the same sort of supernal life 
in which Jesus is ; but it will be the home of 
righteousness, and of a redeemed race, such as 
would have been if Adam had never sinned. 

The showing is that the Kingdom complete will 
embrace several distinct classes. First, the Head 
of all will be the glorious Christ. Second, those 
glorified saints who died in faith and were brought 
forth again in the resurrection of the just. Third, 
those who never died at all, but were suddenly 
changed, transported, and made the glorified com- 
panions and associates of the children of the resur- 
rection. These are the kings, priests, and admin- 
istrators under Christ, in dealing with and ruling 
over the race then still dwelling in the flesh, 
which constitute a fourth class. And thus shall 
be realized that "restitution of all things, which 
God hath spoken by the mouth of all His holy 
prophets since the world began." 

And yet another showing in this Transfigura- 
tion scene was, the intense emphasis it gives to 
the crucifixion of Christ as the centre of the whole 
redemption work. Moses and Elijah in glory on 
that mountain were in devout conversation with 
the Saviour ; and that conversation was on one 
specific theme. It was not the glory of the occa- 
sion ; nor the glory He was to resume with the 
Father after His work on earth was done ; nor 
yet the glory of His Kingdom in its final con- 
summation. The record says, They talked with 
Him, and "spake of His decease which he should 
accomplish at Jerusalem." These men were 



538 THE GLORIOUS BEYOND.' 

among the greatest of the ancient worthies, and 
there were myriads of momentous subjects that 
might have engaged their attention ; but from all 
other topics in the universe they turned to this 
one theme, and talked of it alone ; namely, the 
death of Jesus at Jerusalem. Calvary — the Cross 
— the self-sacrifice of the eternal Son of God for 
man's redemption — this engrossed the whole 
time and the whole attention of the sublime con- 
ference. And what an unspeakable significance 
does this assign to that death scene ! The King- 
dom itself, its very existence, success and glory, 
hung on that tragic event. The Cross, the Cross 
of Jesus, is after all the centre around which the 
highest interest of heaven and all the hopes of 
man revolve. 

Dear friends, our life is a calamity, heaven a 
disappointing dream, and even the Christ himself 
nothing to us, but for that decease which He ac- 
complished at Jerusalem. The Cross of Jesus, 
though bare and barren in itself, with Him out- 
stretched and dying upon it in our stead, is the 
very Tree of L,ife on which our Paradise depends. 
All mercy, love and glory for our fallen world 
issue from thence. Nor are we in accord with the 
mind and feeling of heaven, nor in fit condition to 
join the blessed fellowship of the glorified, until 
we have learned to view and hold that as the 
Alpha and Omega of our faith, and the founda- 
tion of our best and highest hopes. 

Great and glorious things await the people of 
.God. " Unto them that look for Him will Christ 



TWENTY-SIXTH SUNDAY AFTER TRINITY. 539 

appear the second time without sin unto salva- 
tion. " But it is all built upon the one great 
transaction which has made Calvary so dear to 
every Christian heart. And as we look forward 
to the closing of this present world, let us make 
sure of shelter under our Redeemer's Cross ; for 
on that our eternal salvation hangs. 

The Cross ! it takes our guilt away ; 

It holds the fainting spirit up ; 
It cheers with hope the gloomy day, 

And sweetens every bitter cup. 

The balm of life, the cure of woe, 
The measure and the pledge of love, 

The sinner's refuge here below, 

The angels' theme in heaven above. 



The End. 










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